Zombi
by X.G. Sky
Summary: A virus that causes the dead to reanimate finds it's way into Lima, Ohio. Quinn and Rachel fight to survive, will they make it out alive? Warning: Character death not Quinn or Rachel , gore and violence.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters. This is a work of fiction and any similarities and references are completely coincidental or used solely to mimic realism.

A/N:Warning: Character death (not Quinn or Rachel), some gore and violence.

The name is from one of my favorite Lucio Fulci films.

* * *

Whoever said that running was fun is an asshole. I am way too out of shape for this.

Quinn thinks as she zigzags down a side street. They're on her heels, a good handful, and she is not ready to become their lunch.

She had just parked her car outside of the old town boutique that she regularly frequents. She wanted to pick out a new blazer and have it tailored in time to take with her to New Haven.

There was no one around outside. It's Friday, and there is usually a small crowd in the old town square. She entered the shop to find that it was empty as well. She thought nothing of it, and began to peruse the racks to see if there were any new additions to the collection.

Crash!

A loud sound came from the back of the store and Quinn rushed back there to see if the owner needed any help. She had been coming to this store for a while, and she had made friends with the old woman that owns the place.

"Hello?" She gets more noise as an answer.

She walked into the back room to a gruesome scene. There was blood all over the floor and she almost slipped in it. Suddenly, a figure came towards her, she recognized the old woman from her usual outfit.

"Hey, do you need any- Aah!" Quinn screamed when she took in the condition of the woman. Her flesh was ripped to shreds and her clothes were covered in what looked to be her own blood. The old woman continued coming towards her, grunting incoherently.

She turned and scrambled out of the store. Her hands were shaking so hard, she could not get the keys into her car door. She ended up dropping them and bent down to pick them up.

Moooaaaan.

Her eyes went wide after she turned to see a pack of clearly injured people coming towards her. She took off running as fast as she could. Which leads her to where she is now.

She makes a silent prayer as she enters the backdoor to some building. She locks the door behind her and turns around, taking in her surroundings.

It's extremely quiet inside, as she shakily takes careful steps deeper into this iffy space.

x

They were sitting down for a family dinner, she with her fiancée Finn, along with her fathers, Hiram, and Leroy. When all apparent hell broke loose.

Sirens, screaming and loud gunshots polluted the air in their formerly quiet suburban neighborhood.

They all stare out the front windows, not daring to step one foot outside. Finn suddenly turns away from his place in the front window.

"Oh god, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think I've watched enough movies and played enough games to know what's going on here." He says.

"What's that?" Hiram asks.

"Zombie apocalypse." Finn answers with worried expression.

There is a collective gasp from the Berry clan.

About thirty minutes under Finn's leadership, they had boarded up every window and barricaded any danger zones in the Berry home. There was a collection of various household items that could be used as weapons lined up on the coffee table.

Rachel finds herself rubbing soothing circles on Finn's back as he tries calling home and having no one pick up. He tries to go out and check on his mom, but Rachel pleads with him to stay inside until someone comes to help. She assures him that his mom is probably locked safely away along with Burt somewhere and Kurt as well.

She doesn't even believe herself, but he sighs and steps away from the door, picking up the phone to dial yet again.

x

Thank god, this is a hardware store!

Quinn quickly peruses the shelves as quietly as she can for essentials. Flashlight, small toolkit, weapons... weapons... Aha! Hammers!

She grabs a black leather tool belt and puts it on, filling every pocket with supplies along with the hammers. She finds a pair of leather gloves and changes into some work boots that she finds in her size. She grabs a flannel shirt and ties it around her waist. She grabs some clothing and stuffs those into a backpack with some foodstuffs and a few survival kits. She hoists it onto her back and prepares to vacate the place, checking the front window to see if the coast is clear.

Scrape...scrape...

Shit!

She feels her heart rate increase as she readies herself for whatever is in here with her. The flickering light in the back hallway illuminates the awful figure staggering its way towards Quinn.

He is huge, must be the store clerk. Half his face is gone, his right leg is chewed down to the bone, a bloody stump. She scrambles around, using the headlamp she's sporting to search for a weapon with better reach than a hammer.

There are machetes!

She grabs two, putting one in a sheath on her belt, and bracing herself with the other. Watching Sam and Finn play all those video games about killing zombies is proving to be quite useful. She knows what these things are, and how to kill them.

Scrape...scrape...scrape...

She's hard pressed against a wall shelf as he staggers right past her. She raises the machete over her head, coming down hard, aiming for its neck. It takes a few hacks, but she manages to decapitate the thing. She breathes a sigh of relief and tries to collect herself as she heads out the back door.

Creeeeaak!

x

It's been a week and the sounds of the past few days have died down drastically. Rachel wonders if that's because everyone has barricaded themselves in their homes or if they are all just...dead. She shifts under the weight of Finn's heavy arm and he pulls her closer. He makes a whining sound and she turns to look at him, the moonlight shows the shine of tears coming from his closed eyes.

Tonight is the first time he hasn't awakened her with his sobbing. She places a gentle hand on his cheek, wiping some of the tears away with her thumb. He moves forward, connecting their lips in a comforting kiss. They continue to do so as they usually do, except Finn raises up and shifts until he is hovering over her.

"Rachel, I know we wanted to wait until we were married, but it looks like that isn't going to happen any time soon." He mumbles as he finally opens his eyes to look at her.

"You mean you want to..." Rachel swallows hard, she wants to wait until their wedding night. It has to be special, they can still have their wedding no matter what.

He nods.

"I want us to make love. The world is falling apart and I have no idea what's going to happen next. I love you so much, and I don't want to lose this…_us_." He breaks down even more.

Rachel understands how scared he is. She's scared too. She grabs him by the face and pulls him in for another soothing kiss.

"Baby, I know you're scared, I-I am too. But I don't want to have sex just because we think the world is going to end. I want it to be special, and I know we are going to make it out of here. We are going to have our dream wedding, go to New York, and I am going to be a star on Broadway. R-remember our first song in glee, Don't stop believin'? I don't know about you, but I'll never stop believing in my dreams."

He looks down at her, the most distraught she had ever seen him.

"Okay, I-I hope you don't think I meant to pressure you, I just wanted to be with you. Before, I was dreaming that they had gotten in, and..." He starts crying again.

"And...one of them bit you and I tried to fight them off, but then they bit me too. I-I swear I could feel it biting right into my neck." He brings his hand up, rubbing at his neck. He turns onto his side next to Rachel and stares at her hard.

"Promise me something, Rachel."

"Anything," She replies easily.

"Seriously," He says sternly.

"Finn, what is it?" She sits up, matching his hard expression.

"Promise me, if I ever get bit by one of those things, that you'll kill me? I mean, right away, don't let me change. I don't want to become one of those things."

Rachel feels a piercing pain in her chest at the thought of losing Finn. He had been a constant in her life for almost four years. She doesn't know what she would do without him. He's her longest lasting boyfriend and the only one to propose. Most importantly, he is best friend, she can count on him to protect her. She cannot fathom being in this situation without him. It brings her to tears.

"Rachel, promise me!" He whisper yells.

"O-okay, I promise. I promise." She turns her back to him as they were before, pulling his arm back across her abdomen. She cries herself to sleep, with a new fear that maybe none of her dreams are going to come true after all.

x

Quinn is thankful for having running water at her house, it's one of those things you take for granted until something like this happens. She basks in the warmth, the soapsuds cascading over her smooth porcelain skin. Her hands, gliding over every inch, every scar. She finishes up and makes her way into her bedroom, dressing to prepare to be on her way.

Another thing you take for granted...family. She touches her fingertips to a family portrait hanging in the hall. Her mother's eyes, she flashes back to the other day, when she last saw those eyes.

Judy lunging at her, right after she'd outrun a few creatures only to find her safe haven ravaged, those things were long gone by her arrival. Off to find more lives to feed from. She has had plenty of practice compartmentalizing things enough to put the memory of having to kill her own mother away, for now at least.

She drops her hand and goes downstairs. This time she has her backpack packed with more of her own essentials, including her mother's .38 pistol. It may not be smart to use against the creatures, but she is a young woman in a state of emergency, she has to be prepared for more than just zombies.

When she gets outside, she mounts the bicycle that she 'borrowed' from her neighbor's house last night. She takes a black bandana out of her pocket and ties it around her head, Tupac style, before taking off.

The bike moves almost silently, Quinn took the time to oil the wheels, as she travels through the streets of Lima. She passes by her old church, favorite restaurants, and a few friend's houses. She slows down as she sees a few staggering creatures near a familiar home.

There has to be someone alive in there for _them_ to be trying to get in.

x

"I can't hold it, there's too many!" Finn has his back against the previously barricaded front door. Rachel stands back, shivering, 'this is it,' she thinks. Her dads both went out late last night to look for food, they haven't returned.

The shuffling, the gurgled sounds, she raises her bat, ready to swing.

Crack!

She rushes over to the window, beating at the hand until it retreats.

"Rachel! We have to run, get the bags and go into the kitchen! Well go through the back door, okay. Go, go, go!" Finn orders her, out of breath.

Rachel nods, and rushes to grab the bags, stuffing anything else they may need into them. She heads towards the kitchen and looks back at Finn to make sure that he's behind her.

"Finn! No!" She yells as she watches him raise off of the door. But instead of making a run for it, he turns to fight some of them.

She sees him swinging the bat, fighting off the ones that have made their way inside.

"Rachel! Go! Hide inside the cabinet!"

She stands there for a few minutes watching him fight them off, she feels hopeful for a second until one slips by him. It comes straight for her. She backs into the kitchen, knocking over a few pots and pans. She cannot believe she had forgotten her bat when she went to grab the bags. She screams as the vile creature chases after her around the island.

x

Quinn makes her way to the side of the house, since the front is full of creatures. She pries open a window and climbs through as quietly as she can. She checks around every corner as she makes her way down the hallway. She hears a lot of banging and things being broken. She follows the noise until she sees a thing coming from the living room through a swinging door. When she hears a scream, she hopes she isn't too late.

"Rachel! Get back!" Quinn shouts as she bursts in and goes after the creature with her machete, knocking its head off with one swipe. It falls to the ground and then there are arms around her waist.

"Oh my god! Quinn, you saved me! How did you... I can't believe... Oh no, Finn!"

Rachel cannot believe she had forgotten about Finn. She bursts through the kitchen door to see him still up, fighting off the creatures. She feels a hand on her shoulder, to stop her before she waltzes out there with no weapon.

Quinn grabs her second machete and hands it to Rachel. Then she follows her into the living room.

"Aim for the head! Or the neck! And swing as hard as you can Rachel!" Quinn tells her.

They begin chopping their way through the bunch, bodies falling left and right.

Rachel cannot believe this is working. They are actually killing these things. She looks over at Finn as he finishes off the last one.

He's breathing hard as he stares at Quinn, who's staring right back at him. They are all out of breath and Rachel looks back and forth between the two. She wonders what this whole staring contest is all about.

All of a sudden, Finn drops to his knees and he puts his hand on his neck.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no. Finn!" Rachel screams out as she rushes over to him.

She cradles his head as he slides his legs out from under him. Hot tears pour from her eyes as she takes in the blurred redness all over his left side. He's been bitten. This can't be happening.

"Rach...Rachel." He manages to get out.

She already knows what he is about to say. She remembers the promise he made her make.

"Finn, I cant. M-maybe we can get you some help?" She sobs.

"No!" He rasps. "K-kill me! You promised!"

He takes her hand with the machete and puts it up to his neck.

"Do it! Do it now! I'm dying." He rasps out before coughing.

Rachel shakes her head from side to side frantically.

"No, I can't! I can't do it!" She screams.

"Yes, you, can!" He says hoarsely before coughing up some blood. He puts his hand over hers and applies pressure as Rachel squeezes her eyes shut.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wait!"

Rachel's eyes pop open and shoot over to Quinn, who had remained shell shocked until just now.

"Finn stop! Rachel, go into the kitchen. I'll help him." Quinn orders.

"He…made me promise…" Rachel moves around and kneels in front of Finn.

"No, it's, o-kay." He groans, still holding his neck. He reaches out with his other hand, and caresses Rachel's face. She holds it there with both of hers.

"I, l-love you." He half gurgles out. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth.

"I love you too, Finn. Always." She says back. She stays gripping his hand as her tears flow freely.

He starts coughing again and Quinn forcefully pulls Rachel up by the collar and out of the way. She pushes Rachel towards the kitchen. She takes one agonizing look back before allowing the kitchen door to close. Quinn then turns back around to Finn.

"Hey," He weakly greets her.

"Hey," Quinn says back casually, as if she weren't about to end his life.

She isn't a robot, she feels extremely distraught over having to take yet another life of someone that she cares deeply about. She just takes her feelings and pushes them aside to deal with later. There is no time for tears now.

She removes her backpack and sets it at her feet, rummaging through it. She pauses when she hears Rachel wailing from the kitchen. She watches the door to make sure Rachel stays put. She gets out her mom's gun, checks the bullets, cocks it back and crouches down, eye level with him.

She points the gun out in front of her with both hands, aiming for the head. Her hand starts to tremble violently as she looks him in the face. This time is hard, he's still Finn.

"Give, it," He hisses out, reaching for the weapon.

She lets him have it and then she quickly stands back up. They lock eyes once again. He gives her his signature half smile, and it breaks her heart. She immediately turns away.

Bang!

x

Her ears are buzzing, she reaches down and takes the gun from his loose grip. She doesn't dare look up once. She stuffs it into her pocket and rushes over to the kitchen door to stop Rachel before she even tries to come out.

She feels pressure on the other side.

"Rachel, no." Quinn pulls herself though the door without letting it swing open all the way.

"But, I..." Rachel pauses, a look of horror passes over her face.

She breaks down, and Quinn catches her before she falls to the ground.

"I know, I know." Quinn holds Rachel as she cries until they both fall asleep in the kitchen.

The next morning, Quinn wakes up, not remembering where she is with a heavy weight on her lap. She jolts awake and goes to hop up before she realizes where she is and _whom_ she is with.

"Rachel, wake up, we have to go." She nudges the girl and lifts her off of her legs.

"Hmm," Rachel grumbles as she rubs at her crusted over eyes.

"I said we have to leave."

Rachel must have forgotten as well, but Quinn can see as the realization crosses over her features.

"Okay," she nods.

They both stand up, and Quinn grabs up her backpack and re-sheaths her second machete. She makes sure everything is still in its place. She then turns to the two big bags on the floor.

"Are these your bags?" Quinn asks her.

Rachel nods. Quinn goes to shoulder the biggest one, when Rachel's eyes go wide.

"Stop!" She screams.

Quinn lets the handle go.

"That one was Finn's." Rachel says with an eerie calmness.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are there any supplies we may need in here?" She reaches down to open the flap.

"Don't! I-I mean, I'll do it." Rachel walks over to the bag.

Quinn puts up both her palms and takes a step back.

Rachel falls to her knees in front of the bag. She carefully pulls out each item one by one. She picks up one of his hoodies and puts it on, inhaling his scent at the collar.

Quinn surveys the contents of the bag from afar.

"We're going to need that." She says pointing at the Swiss army knife and compass.

Rachel nods slowly and pockets them. She then drags herself to her feet and shoulders her own bag. She follows Quinn out of the back door. She takes a final look back at her home, knowing that she'll never see it again.

Quinn watches her carefully as they walk, trying to remember the last time she had seen Rachel. An early morning wind picks up, swirling through Rachel's long dark hair. It was about a month ago, at graduation.

Their senior year had been so bittersweet, from losing contact with Beth to getting into Yale. Rachel's engagement, to surviving her car accident and walking again, only to have Rachel remain with him. She was ready to move on, start school, and maybe put those passes to use every now and then. Now, here they are, together again, facing the end of the world.

x

She feels numb, the cool air reminds her that she's outside. Rachel pulls her..._his_ hoodie tighter around herself as she looks ahead of herself. Quinn. The events of yesterday flash back in her mind. Finn got bit. Wanted her to keep her promise. She couldn't do it. She narrows her eyes at Quinn. _She_ helped him, she came out of nowhere and helped take Finn away from her.

She turns and takes off running in the opposite direction that Quinn is heading. She doesn't even know where she's going, she just has get away from her. Her dads may still be alive, she has to look for them. They'll protect her, like they always have.

"Rachel! Where the hell are you going!" Quinn looks around to make sure she hasn't drawn any unwanted attention towards them. She takes off running after her. Why the hell is Rachel running?

Rachel runs as fast as her feet will take her to the nearest building. The last she saw, Quinn was right on her, now she can't see her. It's eerily quiet inside, but Rachel scurries down the dark hall as quickly as she can. She hides in an empty room and huddles against a wall, hoping that Quinn hadn't seen her enter.

Quinn really hates running. She hates running when she doesn't even know why she's running, even more. She is going to _kill_ Rachel. For a tiny person, she can move really fast. She slows down when she sees Rachel look over her shoulder.

"She's running from me? How could she be so stupid? Doesn't she know how dangerous it is out here?" Quinn internalizes.

Quinn can see from afar that Rachel enters an apparently empty building. But Quinn knows better, there is bound to be at least one creature inside. She approaches the building and makes her way inside,

Click!

Quinn follows the sound of a door closing and ends up in a long hallway. She opens the first door carefully, she uses her flashlight to quickly check the room for Rachel. Nothing. She continues doing so until she gets to the last door in this particular hall.

She twists the knob and rushes in, machete in hand.

"No! Stay away from me! You took him away. I don't have anyone now. Please, leave me alone!"

"Rachel, shh! You have to be quiet. I didn't do anything. He was already gone. There was nothing either of us could do." Quinn whispers harshly.

Quinn can see Rachel shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's true and you know it. He would have become one of those, _things." _Quinn pauses when she hears a bit of shuffling. She looks around and she doesn't see anything.

"Hey, it's not safe here. We have to get out of here. Let's go!" Quinn whispers sharply.

"No." Rachel crosses her arms across her chest defiantly.

"Rachel, come on. We don't have time for this." Quinn reaches for her, grabbing her by her shoulders to lift her from the ground. She is surprised, yet relieved when Rachel doesn't fight against her. When she finally gets Rachel standing, she jolts as she feels the cold steel through her shirt.

"What are you..." Quinn looks down in shock to see the .38 in Rachel's hand, pointed at her chest.

"Get back! Get out of here Quinn!" Rachel orders.

"Rachel, please, you don't want to do this." Quinn pleads without budging an inch.

"Quinn, you don't understand, I have no one. Finn's gone and I don't know what happened to my Dads. What am I supposed to do?"

"Look, I don't have anyone either, don't you see? Everyone is pretty much dead Rachel. Our parents, friends, we have to assume they're all gone. But we don't have time to dwell on that, we have to move on.

"But what if I can't-"

"Yes you can!" Quinn interrupts. "The Rachel berry I know would never give up, no matter how hard it gets."

She glances down at the weapon. "Now, if you're going to use that thing, do it now. And I suggest that you use it on yourself right after because you are not going to last very long with that attitude."

Rachel's hand goes limp for a second, but then her face goes hard as she raises the gun back up. This time she's aiming for her head. Quinn squeezes her eyes shut, she thought that she had talked some sense into Rachel. Now she's going to die at her hands. That's the thanks she gets for saving her life yesterday.

Her eyes snap open.

"Rachel, please don't do this. I love you..."

Bang!

x

Her ears buzz again at the second shocking blast they've suffered within hours of each other. She blinks back tears as she feels at her body. She allows her eyes to focus on a shaken up looking Rachel, staring straight ahead. She follows Rachel's line of vision to see, a creature, lying in a heap on the ground behind her. Her focus is back to Rachel, her shining wide eyes, visible in the dark.

"Did I just say that out loud? All it took was thinking that I was going to die to finally confess it." Quinn grumbles internally.

Rachel swallows thickly as she comes back from the initial shock from the gunshot. Quinn loves her. She wasn't ever going to shoot Quinn, she just wanted to be left alone. She was seconds away from giving in and leaving with her when she saw that _thing_ coming towards them.

Quinn saved her because she loves her. She loves Quinn too and she just saved her right back. They're even now, so what next?

"What are we going to do now, Quinn? Where do we go from here?" Rachel asks.

Quinn locks eyes with Rachel and she reaches out to grab her hand.

"We move on."

x

_Emergency Alert System: Attention! The entire state of Ohio has been declared a state of emergency. An outbreak of a deadly virus has spread quickly across the Northern area near Columbus. Police and military officers have been sent to provide security and service to those in need of assistance. So far, the virus is confirmed to be contained. There is no account of the amount of deceased or survivors as of yet. We will keep you updated with any new developments._

x

She shifts uncomfortably on top of the prickly bale of hay underneath her blanket. Rachel huffs in frustration as she flips over onto her back as she stares at the moon through the barn window. She glances over at Quinn, who is sleeping soundly beside her. She looks so peaceful, Rachel has to keep herself from reaching out and caressing her face.

They have managed to survive these past few days on foot, thanks to Quinn. Rachel doesn't know how she knows the things she knows about survival, but she is glad for it. Rachel would've never thought to leave the city and travel the back roads to get away from the creatures.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"Oh no." Rachel begins to panic. There wasn't a soul for miles out here. But that doesn't mean there are no creatures lurking around.

"Quinn. Wake Up! I just heard something." She squeals as she shakes Quinn awake.

Quinn is up quickly and she fishes out a flashlight. She shines it all around the empty barn. She doesn't see anything so she lowers the light.

"I swear I just heard tapping, Quinn."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Quinn raises the lamp and shoots the light to where the noise came from. There it is. A bird flapping its wings against a loose piece of wood up in the rafters.

"It's just a bird Rachel. Are you okay?" She asks as she rubs Rachel's arm soothingly.

Rachel nods. She hopes so.

"Quinn, do you think we can really make it out of here? You know how that radio station said that the virus was only in Ohio?"

"Yeah, I remember. But isn't that what we're already trying to do?"

"I know, but, I really want to try to get to New York. If everything is fine there, I could still go to college and we could try and live a somewhat normal life."

Quinn sits up and stares down at her. There's her Rachel. Even though she's been through so much recently, she still refuses to give up on her dreams.

"Of course we can, anything to make you happy. I cannot wait for the day I could see you smile again." A ghost of a smile passes over Rachel's face, Quinn bites her lip to keep from doing something stupid.

"Plus I hear that New Haven is just a train ride away." She adds.

"Oh Quinn," Rachel pulls Quinn into a hug despite their close proximity.

Her arms are around Quinn's neck whose body rests heavily atop her own. Rachel cannot help the guilt she feels holding Quinn like this. She forces herself to pull away, knowing that her thoughts of the blonde are far from innocent. Ever since Quinn confessed her love, she cannot help thinking about how different things would have been if they were together.

x

They are passing through Columbus. There have been a few car sightings throughout their journey, which gives them some hope that maybe they'll make it to safety soon.

They lucked out, finding an old classic Indian in the shed of that farm. Traveling via motorcycle was a no brainer in this situation. It allows better maneuverability than a car. Quinn got it up and running, and then they were on their way.

When the bike starts to rumble, they stop at an off road gas station to check it out. The station is located in an isolated farming area surrounded by empty fields. The place looks deserted, Quinn can feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as she realizes the amount of danger they are in.

They pull in, park, and hop off of the bike. Quinn checks the tank first, it's almost empty. She tries to use the pump, but it needs to be turned on from the inside first. Quinn swallows hard as she surveys the dingy looking store. She tells Rachel to stay in the forecourt to watch the bike.

"I'm going to go turn on the pumps." She tells Rachel before sprinting off towards the store.

She pushes through the glass door to get inside and she is hit immediately with a foul odor. The service counter is cluttered with papers and various auto mechanic parts. She hops over it and scans the area for the switchbox. She finds it and flips the switches for all of the pumps.

Rachel waits outside chewing her lip nervously. She glances around at her surroundings, and the coast is clear. She turns back to the store window and sees Quinn finally at the counter.

Squawk!

Rachel looks up at the light pole to see a fairly large black crow. She shivers at the sight. She looks back over at Quinn behind the service counter.

Quinn sees Rachel watching her and she waves at her through the shop window. For some reason, she looks out at the field behind Rachel. Her mouth drops open in horror. Creatures are in the distance coming towards the station.

She has to get to Rachel.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but it didn't need anything else, so...

Also, this story will be approximately five chapters long, six max.

* * *

Rachel watches as Quinn signals for her to fill the tank. She sees her expression change and her stomach drops. She turns around and squints her eyes, seeing movement in the distance. Crap. She hurries and begins to fill the tank before she searches the shop window for Quinn. Where is she?

Quinn immediately turns around to make a swift exit.

Aargh!

A creature scrambles towards Quinn from the back room.

"Oh fuck!" She screams.

This thing is the most grotesque subhuman Quinn has seen so far. Its skin, wherever it isn't ripped to shreds, is dark and covered in bubbly lesions.

It lunges at her, gnashing its teeth as it tries to take a bite out of her arm. She struggles with it, pushing it back whilst dodging its teeth. She gives one final push with all of her might. It flies into a shelf of snack foods, but is back on its feet within seconds.

Where is her machete? Her hands swat through the mess on the floor but she cannot find it. She straightens up, her eyes dart back and forth, searching for another weapon. The creature is quickly, yet clumsily making it's way towards her again.

"Quinn!" Rachel screams after bursting through the front door. She sees the creature going after Quinn who apparently lost her machete.

"Quinn catch!" She tosses Quinn the second machete and she catches it with one hand.

She watches as Quinn raises it above her head and then comes down hard on the thing. The impact is so intense that the head flies up and bounces off the shop window. Spraying black blood all over. Quinn hops out of the way and over the body and runs over to her, stopping shortly to pick up her own machete from the floor.

Quinn hands the second machete back over to Rachel as she grabs her by the hand dragging her from the store.

"Thanks." Quinn quickly throws over her shoulder before turning back around.

They both look out into the field to see that the creatures are even closer now. Quinn hops onto the motorcycle first, adjusting their now singular bag to make sure it is tied down tightly.

Rachel places her left hand on Quinn's shoulder to gain leverage to lift herself onto the bike behind Quinn. She scoots up close to Quinn's behind and wraps her arms tightly around her slender waist. She can feel Quinn's abs quivering under her palms. She leans the side of her head on Quinn's back and rubs her stomach soothingly.

Quinn stills in Rachel's grip, and she stops her movements. She didn't necessarily _want_ her to stop, she just knew that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on escaping those creatures with her touching her like that. Quinn doesn't miss the sweetness of the gesture though, but she cannot bring herself to think in that way while they are still in danger. She takes a deep breath before she starts the engine and speeds off without warning.

x

They are on the 71 highway, headed towards the 80. Quinn felt it would be the best way to get through Pennsylvania without getting lost, since it's a straight shot to New York.

Quinn begins feeling groggy after the fifth straight hour of riding. Her legs and back have been aching for days, she pops painkillers whenever Rachel isn't looking. She wants so badly to just pull over and rest, especially after fighting with that creature earlier. But the sign said that they are nearing Youngstown by the state line, so she keeps going.

They hit major traffic as they approach the state line. There are officers and army soldiers lined along the sides of the highway. There is a crowd of people gathered around the makeshift checkpoint. Traffic seems to have come to a complete halt.

They can hear people yelling along with the muffled sounds of a police bullhorn. People are leaving their cars. Quinn and Rachel slow down and pull over next to the side rail.

"Excuse me sir, what's going on?" Quinn asks an officer as she and Rachel dismount the bike.

"There's a quarantine in effect until further notice, ma'am. We don't know exactly when it will be lifted, so I suggest you two go somewhere safe before nightfall to wait it out."

"Oh my god." Rachel cannot believe it, they were so close to getting out of there.

They decide it would be best not to join the crowd of complaining people at the makeshift fencing, so they walk back over to the bike.

Quinn leans against the railing and begins stretching her calves. She's so tired of driving that bike, she needs to rest before going anywhere else today. She's facing the bushes alongside the railing when she hears a low whistle, she looks into the bush, seeing nothing there.

_Hey,_

This time it's unmistakable, she heard someone, and she looks out there once more to see a pair of eyes in the distance. The person signals for her to come to him before disappearing.

Rachel sees Quinn sagging against the railing, she knows she is probably too tired to drive anywhere. She goes over to Quinn and stands behind her. She begins rubbing her back to try and help alleviate some of her pain.

Quinn turns and grabs Rachel into a hug to mask, because officers are watching them.

"Hey, someone is down there in the bushes. I think they called me over there." Quinn whispers into Rachel's ear.

"What? Quinn, that's crazy. You're thinking of going over there to check it out?" Rachel hisses. Quinn shrugs.

"Are you crazy? I thought you were the level headed one." Rachel turns to look out there and sees them herself. The person is covered in face paint and they do give a hand signal to follow them. Rachel is afraid of getting caught as well as taking a chance following this stranger.

"Follow my lead." Quinn says before she kisses Rachel's neck softly. She barely touches her, but it is enough to astound Rachel.

Quinn pulls back and takes in Rachel's reaction, her eyes are closed, and she's gripping onto the rail. She forces those thoughts away. She looks left and right before discreetly unlatching their bag from the bike and tossing it over.

Rachel snaps back to reality when she hears the soft thud of their bag landing on the other side of the railing. An officer walks by and Quinn is suddenly pressed up against her front. Her mouth drops open as Quinn presses their foreheads together, her hands roaming up and down her sides.

Then as quickly as Quinn was on her, she pulls away. After the officer turns away, Quinn grabs Rachel by the hand. She follows blindly, in a daze, over the railing and down into the bush without anyone noticing.

They search the bush for the person, but they are nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, everything goes black as their heads are covered in bags. They are shuffled into some sort of hallway, judging by the echoes of their screams as an indicator.

Quinn really wishes that she had taken out her mother's .38.

"Shut up! We are going to help you!" A man yells at them.

They both cease their cries for help. Rachel is holding onto Quinn for dear life as they are pushed along for minutes, down the mysterious hall.

"You have to stay quiet."

Creak! Slam!

x

The bags are yanked off their heads and they are met with the inside of a warehouse. Everything is white, the walls, floors, ceiling, even the furniture. Pretty much everything, aside from the large tinted two way mirrors along one wall. There are a few people inside rushing around in white haz-mat suits.

They stay huddled together as they take in their surroundings, both shivering from fear.

The guy in fatigues grabs their bag from Quinn and dumps everything out into a plastic tub.

"Here, take this into the shower area and scrub yourselves with it for about fifteen minutes. Bag your old clothes in here. You will receive new clothing when you are cleared for passing." He hands Quinn a box of a powdery substance and Rachel an empty plastic bag before shoving them towards the shower area.

They both remove their clothing as soon as they get behind closed doors. Rachel opens the bag and stuffs all of their garments inside. As soon as they get into the communal shower and turn on the water, they begin scrubbing their bodies with the weird powder they were given.

Quinn lathers up and then allows the warm water to flow over her. It helps ease the pain in her aching muscles.

"Quinn, how are we supposed to know when fifteen minutes is up?" Rachel asks.

"I don't know. Just keep scrubbing, they'll probably knock on the door whe-"

Aah! Pow! Pow! Pow!

Loud screaming and what sounds like gunshots, rattle them. Rachel grabs Quinn and holds onto her despite them both being naked.

Quinn can feel her cheeks blush at the warmth of Rachel against her and immediately feels wrong for enjoying it. Her nipples harden at the contact and she can feel both of their hearts beating rapidly in unison. This is not a good time for these feelings.

Rachel pulls away first. "I'm sorry, Quinn. I'm just so scared." Rachel cries.

"Don't be, I'm scared too." Quinn whispered shakily as she runs a hand over Rachel's wet hair.

"I-I...Quinn I'm sorry. I never really apologized for what I did to you, I guess I was in shock, but that didn't give me any right to threaten your life. If we make it out of here, I promise I'll make it up to you."

Quinn is surprised that she brought _that_ up. She'd already forgiven Rachel the minute she took her hand and left that building with her.

"You're right, it was really stupid, and dangerous," Rachel sobs even harder. Quinn picks up her jaw with her index finger.

"But, I've already forgiven you. Believe me, I'll never forget it, but I don't hold grudges. Especially against the people I truly care about." She's glad that she didn't repeat those three words again. She drops her hand and continues her scrubbing, when Rachel doesn't, she looks at her.

"Quinn," Rachel begins as she looks up into Quinn's red-rimmed eyes.

Quinn looks down at Rachel, she is so beautiful, her wet lashes make her dark honey eyes pop. She goes back to stroking the back of Rachel's head.

"What's going to happen to us?" Rachel cries out again. She holds onto Quinn again as they stand under the stream of warm water.

"Shh, we're going to be okay. I promise." She leans down and kisses Rachel's forehead, then both her cheeks. She lingers on the second cheek before forcing herself to pull away.

Rachel can feel her body relax immediately as soon as Quinn's warm mouth touches her skin. She looks up at her in awe, this amazing woman, as if it were the very first time. She knows that she will always be there to make sure she's okay.

"Quinn,"

Knock! Knock! Knock!


	4. Chapter 4

A woman in a white lab coat hands them new clothes in a sealed package. They both receive identical white t-shirts and a pair of blue jeans. The woman also hands them each a pair of black Converse and she waits as they dress. She leads them down a bright white narrow hallway. They end up at a large door. The woman says nothing as she swipes her card and opens the door for them. They are let out side, and then the woman closes the door behind them.

Bam!

"Hello, ladies. Quinn Fabray, Rachel Berry, I presume." A tall man greets them. He is dressed in similar clothes as they are now.

"Yes, that would be us." Rachel replies.

"Good. I have most of your things here in a new duffel bag. You can go ahead and check it out if you want."

Quinn bends down and unzips the bag. Their clothes aren't here, replaced with sealed packs of what they are currently wearing. Her lockbox is intact, Finn's knife and compass, and her mom's gun as well. She allows Rachel to look, and she can tell she's upset, but she holds it together.

Rachel cannot believe they just took all of their clothes. Finn's hoodie was in there! They probably won't care as long as whatever germs aren't spread. She understands in a way, but that doesn't quell her pain.

"Thank you sir, everything seems fine. Are we free to go?" Quinn asks.

He smiles and shakes both of their hands. "Why yes you are."

"Why did you help us? What is this place?" Quinn asks out of curiosity.

"A van is going to come and pick you guys up and take you wherever you want, okay?" He evades Quinn's questions, so she decides to leave it alone.

"T-that's fine. Thank you again." Quinn replies as Rachel takes her hand, squeezing the life out of it.

"That's quite alright. You young ladies take care of yourselves out there, you here?"

"Okay." They reply in unison.

The van pulls up as the man walks away. They ask to take highway 80 into Pennsylvania. He tells them that they are already technically in Pennsylvania, but he takes them back to the highway as requested.

"Now I can only take you a couple of hundred miles in, I'll drop you at a hotel and then you'll have to find your own way after that okay." The driver informs them.

He drops them off at a Holiday Inn in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. They pay with some money that Quinn had inside her lock-box since the woman at the service desk tells them that all of their cards were declined.

When they get into the room, they both run over and jump onto the bed.

"Okay, wow, Quinn what just happened? So many crazy things have happened today, I just cannot believe we got out."

"It all feels so surreal doesn't it?"

"It does. I guess we have to make some calls tomorrow to fix our banking situations or something. Otherwise we have no money to go anywhere."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Quinn yawns. "Now it's time to finally get a good night's sleep." She snuggles into a fluffy pillow with her eyes closed.

Rachel props herself up on her elbow, staring down at Quinn's face and her exhausted expression. She hesitates for a second before reaching out. This time she allows herself to brush the tips of her fingers along Quinn's jaw line. She watches as her eyes flutter before they snap open.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asks softly.

"I honestly don't know." Rachel replies, just as softly. She searches her own mind for an answer. An answer about why she's been having these strong feelings for Quinn one moment, then feeling guilty because of Finn. It seems as if she has less and less control over her body the longer she's been around Quinn.

Quinn watches her, until they lock eyes once again. She reaches up and tucks a loose strand of hair behind Rachel's ear. She lets her hand rest gently on her cheek. All of a sudden, Rachel darts forward, crashing their lips together in a rough, searing kiss.

She's kissing Quinn. It feels amazing, her lips are so soft gentle. Rachel slips her hand around Quinn's neck as a signal to deepen the kiss. Their tongues swirl, and all she sees is brightness behind her closed lids. There is a coiling in the pit of her stomach, a pulling, a wanting that she has never felt before. It was never like this with Finn.

"Oh my god! I can't! I can't do this! I'm a horrible person!" Rachel screams suddenly after jumping up from the bed.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. I-I wasn't thinking. I'm really sorry Rachel." Quinn blurts, out of breath. She flinches as Rachel runs into the bathroom and slams the door.

"God, how could I be so stupid?" She thinks as she runs a hand through her hair. She takes a deep breath to try to calm herself as she hears the sounds of Rachel crying in the bathroom. She falls asleep after about an hour of it.

x

Quinn wakes up early the next morning to find Rachel lying beside her, sleeping soundly. She writes her a note before getting up and going out to the bank. She goes to the bank and is informed by the bank manager that she and Rachel would both have to file for the death certificates for their parents in order to access their accounts.

She finds out that her parents had a 1 million dollar life insurance policy tied to each of their accounts. They cannot tell her anything about Rachel, but she assumes the story is something similar to her own. She hurries back to the hotel to let Rachel know.

Rachel wakes up, her head is pounding, last night was the hardest she's cried in a long time. She turns over to see an empty right side of the bed. She takes her hand and smooths over the spot where Quinn had lain. She stops short when her hand touches a piece of paper.

_Rachel, _

_I'm going out to the bank to check everything out. I'll be back shortly._

_-Quinn_

Rachel sets the note back down. She has no choice but to wait until Quinn returns, even though she would have wanted to go along. She gets up and decides to shower while she waits. She hears Quinn enter the room as she finishes up in the bathroom.

"Rachel," Quinn calls.

"Coming," Rachel answers. She exits the bathroom to see a nervous looking Quinn standing in the middle of the room.

"Look, I know things got a little out of hand last night and I apologize for my…reaction. It's just…it's just too soon, you know."

"No, Rachel I understand. I know that you're vulnerable right now, and I should have stopped it."

"Quinn we've both lost the most important people in our lives. It wasn't your fault. We're both grieving."

They fall into deep silence, both trying hard not to break down in front of each other right now. Quinn sits down on the bed and clears her throat. Rachel goes and sits beside her.

"Um, the bank says that we have to file for certificates…for our parents…to access our accounts. My parents had insurance, yours probably did too."

"I guess the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we're out of here?" Rachel questions.

Quinn turns suddenly and faces Rachel. She can feel her insides trembling, she is on the brink of tears. What is happening?

"You know how they say money can't buy you happiness?" Quinn asks as a single tear falls from her eye.

Rachel nods slowly.

"It's _millions_ Rachel, and that saying has never felt so true. We'll never get them back. " Quinn sobs. She cannot hold them in any longer, so she finally breaks down. She curls up on her side in Rachel's lap as she strokes her hair.

Rachel knew this was coming, she's glad it happened sooner rather than later. She had her own breakdown last night and a few beforehand, but this whole time, she had never seen Quinn really cry.

Yes, she cries. The weight of this ordeal has finally caught up with Quinn apparently. She thinks of all of the devastatingly horrible things she has witnessed, things she has done. They have both lost everything, left with each others broken shells.

Out of this entire ordeal, the hardest thing to deal with is not being able to touch Rachel the way that she wants, to kiss her, tell her she loves her. She thinks of how she would feel if she had lost Rachel, she cannot see herself ever getting over it. Rachel lost her parents and her _fiancee_, she will probably never be over him. She can only hope that things get better for them with time.

x

After two weeks holed up in a hotel room, they finally have their accounts unfrozen, so they make their way to a used car dealership.

Beep!

Quinn jumps and turns around to catch sight of Rachel, behind the wheel of their newly purchased _hybrid_ vehicle. She finishes up with the salesperson as he hands over the paperwork, giving her a firm handshake to seal the deal.

Rachel drives them back to the hotel, a little nervously since she had not driven in quite a while. Finn would usually drive them places or she would ride with one of her fathers whenever they went anywhere. She could feel Quinn watching her from the corner of her eye. The car is a bit sluggish, Quinn had mentioned that in her case against buying a hybrid. She may have been right about that, but Rachel thinks that overall, saving on gas and making fewer stops would be extremely beneficial for a quicker trip.

These past few weeks went somewhat normal for Rachel and Quinn. They would spend days walking around and visiting small shops around the area. At night, they would cuddle up and watch movies or the news to keep up with the situation in Ohio.

They found out that the entire state had been quarantined and that they are taking the names of the living to try and begin tallying the number of victims. Rachel silently hopes that maybe her dads could possibly be amongst those that had survived. She has no way of finding out unless they contact the bank or insurance company, neither of which has happened.

There were also a few stray cases in other surrounding states, including Pennsylvania. They say that those cases were isolated and that the virus had remained under the control of the CDC.

x

"I'll be so happy to do some shopping when we get to New York, I feel like we're about to do a Glee club performance or something." Quinn says laughing.

"I do miss my argyle." Rachel confessed.

"You can't be serious."

"I most definitely am, Quinn. Would you stop laughing? I-I'll have you know that most collegiate alumni are very fond of argyle sweaters a-and plaid. You'll probably see a lot of it at Yale and then you'll call me and I'd say I told you so."

Quinn cannot find any way to respond to that besides breathless laughter. It had been far too long since Rachel had gone off on a tangent about her clothing choices. She really missed just how adorable Rachel could be.

The ride is only about three hours long, so they opt to wake up early tomorrow and make their way. Quinn begrudgingly plugs in the hybrid car, to be sure it's fully charged for their short trip.

After her shower, Quinn climbs into bed next to Rachel who cuddles up to her immediately.

"What are we watching tonight?" Quinn asks.

"Westside Story, there is a Natalie Wood marathon on today." Rachel replied quietly.

"Okay." Quinn says as she pulls Rachel closer until her head is on her chest.

It's the way they had been sleeping for a long time, and Quinn has to admit, she's afraid of getting to New York. She isn't sure if this is just a comfort thing for Rachel, and what will happen when they start school. Instead of dwelling on those issues, she decides to bask in the moments of their final night together, sharing a bed in this hotel.

x

_Welcome to New York_

Ahhh!

Rachel screams as she hangs out of the window at the sight of the sign. Quinn had taken the wheel after their last stop, since Rachel couldn't control herself as the number of miles to New York dwindled down. They continue into the city taking in the historic buildings as they make their way down Madison Ave.

They get a room at the Hotel Grand Union and park the car, deciding to walk down to the NYADA campus. Rachel finds out that she would be sharing a dorm room when she starts school next week.

"Well, look on the bright side, at least you made it here Rach." Quinn reassures Rachel, rubbing her back.

"I know, I was just hoping that it wasn't too late…I really wanted a private room, you know." Rachel looks up at Quinn, trying to silently voice her disappointment in their lack of privacy for whenever she visits.

"It'll be okay. Maybe you'll become friends." Quinn cringes internally at the thought of Rachel and her roommate hitting it off. She feels a little guilty for hoping that they don't get along.

This whole time, they had tried to avoid thinking about this situation. When will they see each other? Who will visit whom? What are they? Friends? More? Neither one of them have the nerve to utter any of those questions aloud.

When they get back to their room, Quinn checks the internet to double check her registration date. It is as she remembered, August 24th, meaning they have a few more days of just each other. After they go their separate ways, who knows what will happen. She can feel her heart tearing at just the thought of being away from Rachel, sleeping alone for the first time in almost two months.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Rachel asks even thought she could sort of guess what is bugging Quinn.

"Nothing, I'm just nervous…about starting college after everything that's happened." It was partly true.

"We'll be okay." Rachel tries to sound convincing enough.

"Promise?" Quinn asks unsurely.

The day has come, as Quinn stands in the Grand Central Terminal with Rachel by her side in tears.

"I can't help but feel like I may never see you again." She sobs.

"No, you can't think like that, Rachel. Remember? You said we'll be okay the other day, and we have to believe that. Otherwise, this could be bad for us."

"How so?"

"Well, I think we've become a little dependent on each other and spending some time apart, will allow whatever _this_ is between us to grow."

Rachel ponders over what Quinn said and she thinks that she may be right. She was always one to fall too fast or hold on too hard to the other person in her relationships. This thing with Quinn had been one of the longest lasting bouts of foreplay that she had ever experienced in her life. Finally being able to touch her, hug her and maybe kiss her, she doesn't want it to end.

Quinn moves forward, tugging Rachel into a warm embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around her tiny frame. She pulls back and kisses Rachel's cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears.

Rachel exhales a shaky breath as Quinn begins to pull away. She opens her eyes to look deeply into watery hazel, memorizing every fleck and freckle in her eyes. She grips into Quinn's denim covered arms, lifting herself onto her toes, and places a sweet chaste kiss on her lips.

"Bye, Quinn." Rachel whispers as she pulls away.

The sensation lasts only a second, but is enough to put Quinn in a fog. She barely registers the words that Rachel had just said.

Screech!

The arrival of her train breaks her out of her daze and she picks up her bag.

"I'm going to call you, okay Rachel. Bye." Quinn says sadly. She turns around and gets onto the train. She smiles as she looks out the window from her seat to see Rachel waving at her. She feels a bit embarrassed, but she waves back anyway.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter is mainly fluff, enjoy it while it lasts.

* * *

This entire week has been one big ball of stress, she has to call Quinn when she gets to her room. If one more person asks her about Ohio or if she is okay, she is going to burst. All everyone at NYADA does is keep talking about what happened in Ohio. Rachel gets that they want to know what's going on, but she doesn't have all of the answers just because she lived through it. She doesn't need their pity either.

"Quinn,"

"Rachel, are you okay?" Quinn can hear the strain in her voice.

"No," Rachel replies truthfully.

Quinn doesn't know how to be there for Rachel when she cannot actually _be_ there. She knows that Rachel has been suffering through a lot of stress since starting school. She has as well. Yes, Yale is the perfect school for her, but the timing just doesn't feel right. She told Rachel that she wanted to quit the other day, but she wasn't having it.

"I want to be there for you, you know. I don't want you to feel completely alone in that big city. I want to come visit soon. Oh, I almost forgot. A cop posted a list of the living online. I don't see anyone I know on it though."

"Really? Send it to me." Rachel checks the list, hoping to see at least one of her dads or anyone else she may know on it. "There's no one." She mutters sadly.

"It's okay, that list isn't final. It will take months to get everyone accounted for. We can still hold out hope that someone we know has survived as well."

"Yeah, I wish you were here to hold me while I sleep, I miss that."

Quinn blushes at the sudden change in direction of their conversation.

"I wish that you would just let me quit, so that I could do that, _every night." _Quinn finishes enticingly.

"Quinn, I don't care if you talk to me in your sexy voice, you shouldn't quit school for me."

"Why not? I could always defer and go back when I'm ready. And who says I'm quitting for you?"

"I don't know, you always tell me you want to quit when I call to complain to you about school."

"Look, any other time before the virus happened, I would be able to enjoy school, but I'm constantly worried that it will come over here and I won't be able to get to you, you know."

"I never…could it Quinn? They said it was under control."

"Rachel, calm down. I was just saying that I was a little worried that it might. That doesn't mean anything, it just how my brain works. They say it's under control, and that is the only reason I got onto that train that day."

"Okay. So let's not worry ourselves too much. You've already made me feel better just hearing your voice tonight Quinn."

Rachel yawns as she stretches out on her tiny bed. "I'm getting sleepy so I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye Rachel. I love you."

"I love you too Quinn, goodnight."

x

Quinn checks her e-mail again for the last time tonight, she still hasn't heard back from Santana. She takes a deep breath as she opens an e-mail forwarded to her and her sister.

_Dear Francesca Fabray-Moore and Lucy-Quinn Fabray,_

_It has come into notice of our law offices, the filing of death certificates for Russell L. Fabray and Judith E. Fabray. The cause of death on the certificates complies with the insurance company's policy. The combined sum totaling: two-million dollars ($2,000,000.00) is to be divided between the surviving children, Francesca Fabray-Moore and Lucy-Quinn Fabray._

_Our law offices are also appointed to read of the last will and testament of Russell L. Fabray. He requested that his assets be divided to his surviving children in the event of his death. The assets including: the home located at 55 whispering pine way, Lima, OH, the second home located at 304 W. Lima Heights, OH, two vehicles, 2011 Bentley Continental, and 2011 Mercedes E63 AMG, and the amount within Bank of America savings account (account number: 334895), totaling twenty-million, four hundred-sixty thousand, nine hundred-thirteen dollars ($20,460,913.00). _

_The items are to be divided as such, to Francesca Fabray-Moore, the home located at 55 whispering pine way, Lima, OH, the 2011 Bentley Continental, and half of the contents of the Bank of America account. To Lucy-Quinn Fabray, the second home located at 304 W. Lima Heights, OH, the 2011 Mercedes E63 AMG, and half of the contents of the Bank of America account. _

_Attached are a few documents to sign, and fax or mail into our office immediately. _

_Thank you, _

_The Law Offices of Reginald Baker & Associates_

x

Quinn chokes back the tears of joy, knowing that her sister is still alive. She prints out the paperwork and e-mails her sister. She asks her how she is and if she knows of anyone else in the family that may have survived.

It isn't until she closes her laptop that she realizes what actually happened. She wants to believe that the e-mail was false or improperly written. She picks up the actual paperwork from the printer and reads through them, everything is legit. She fills out the necessary forms and faxes them over on her all-in-one right away, before she forgets. Then she goes to bed.

Three days later, Quinn goes to the ATM to get some cash to have on hand when she goes to visit Rachel. When she checks her balance, she does a double take, it's almost eleven million dollars. She instantly becomes paranoid and leaves the machine before anyone sees her.

She goes back into her dorm room, lucky her roommate isn't there. So, she calls Rachel.

"Rachel listen, I-I don't know how to say this, but…"

"Quinn what is it? Is it the virus?"

"No, no. It's…I got the money."

"You got _the_ money?"

"Yeah, almost eleven million. I need to do some shopping."

"Wow, for what?"

"You'll see."

Quinn does some apartment searching in the surrounding areas of Rachel's school. There are some nice apartments on Park Avenue for sale available. She calls and schedules a meeting with a broker to begin the process of purchasing an apartment there.

x

Rachel feels nervous as she gets dressed and she doesn't know why. It's only Quinn, but it's the first time they are going to see each other in almost a month. She continues primping her hair and making sure that her makeup looks polished.

She rushes back to her dorm room when she realizes just how long she had been getting ready in the bathroom. She is pleasantly surprised when she arrives because Quinn is already there. Hopefully her roommate wasn't rude to her.

"Hey!" Rachel squeals as she grabs Quinn into a tight bear hug.

"God, hi!" Quinn puffed out, despite having the life squeezed out of her.

Rachel feels as if she is on the verge of tears as she looks into Quinn's eyes for the first time in too long. She leans into Quinn, as she rubs at her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees her roommate staring at them, so she pulls back and decides to introduce them.

"Oh, Ann, this is Quinn."

"Hello." Ann says with a small knowing smile on her face.

Rachel hopes she doesn't ask any stupid questions, because she and Quinn have yet to discuss anything regarding their relationship.

They tell each other they love each other, they flirt shamelessly over the phone and the last time she saw Quinn, she kissed her. It's common sense that they have grown into more than friends, but Rachel plans on letting Quinn know what she wants this weekend.

"So, are you ready to go?" Rachel asks.

"Yeah."

They say goodbye to Rachel's roommate before leaving the dorms, Quinn heads to the parking lot, where they parked the Prius.

"Where are you going Quinn?"

"To the car."

"I was thinking that we would take the subway, you know. It's the way real New Yorker's get around."

"Alright, as long as you don't get us lost."

They catch the subway to Broadway because Quinn bought them tickets to see a show before they go to dinner.

The show doesn't start for an hour, so to kill some time they go to an arcade. Their competitive sides come out as they battle for sixty minutes, playing only the machines that give tickets. In the end, Rachel claimed the victory over Quinn by about thirty-five tickets.

"Ha! I beat you!" Rachel yells as she celebrates in front of the ticket-counting machine.

"Yeah, by what, thirty tickets? If that one machine hadn't messed up, I would have won, you know." Quinn defends.

"Oh, no need to be a sore loser Quinn Fabray. I'll let you win next time."

"Even I don't believe that."

"I'll have you know, I've thrown competitions before." Rachel's mind wanders back to the time she let Quinn win those tickets to Breadsticks with Sam. She remembers the fun she had with Finn, thinking of songs in her bedroom back then. She'll always have those good memories of him, no matter what.

After the show, Quinn takes Rachel to dinner at Blossom, a fully vegan restaurant.

"This is really nice Quinn."

"So, you're having a good time?"

"Yes, I'm just so happy you're here."

"Me too. I wish that I could stay longer, there's just so many things I have to take care of. But I promise, when it's all said and done I'm going to be here for you every chance I get okay."

Rachel has no idea what Quinn means except for the part about being here for her more often.

"That sounds wonderful as long as you're not quitting school."

"I'm not."

"Alright."

"So, I'm stuffed, how about you?"

"I am. I guess we should head back to my dorm then."

Quinn pays the bill and Rachel leaves the tip. They take a taxi back to the NYADA campus and they walk towards Rachel's dorm. Quinn wraps an arm around Rachel's shoulders to pull her closer, it is getting colder, and it will probably rain soon.

Rachel is happy to see that Ann is asleep already when they got in. Quinn grabs her small bag as Rachel gets her pajamas and follows her to the bathroom.

"God, this bathroom reminds me of that communal shower at that creepy warehouse."

"Yes! I thought that too when I first came in here. I was a little scared to be in here alone at first."

"What did you do? Bring a bathroom buddy?"

"Ha, ha, ha, no."

After they change, they walk back to Rachel's room and Quinn grabs her hand, interlacing their fingers. The warmth crawls up from her wrist all the way up into her chest, a new feeling that she enjoyed very much.

Rachel pulls back her covers and allows Quinn to get in the bed first. The bed is so small that she has to lie on top of Quinn, not that she minds.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Rachel asks her.

"Not really, we've slept together closer than this before, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. I've missed this, lying with you like this."

"I did too."

Quinn angles her head down just as Rachel looks up at her. They lock eyes and come together in soft press of lips. The angle is hurting her neck, but she keeps kissing Rachel in spite of it.

Rachel notices that their angle is weird, so she turns over until she is front to front with Quinn. She had not expected this to become so intimate, but she doesn't want to stop.

This is a little much, and Quinn doesn't want to push any boundaries by touching Rachel anywhere too personal, so she keeps her hands up on her shoulders.

They finally part, and Rachel lies with her head on Quinn's chest like she always had. She falls asleep faster than she has in a while.

x

Quinn gets up the next day, she has a crook in her neck, from sleeping with Rachel in her tiny bed. She tells Rachel that she is going out. She doesn't tell her that she is going off to sign the paperwork for the apartment. She hopes that Rachel isn't too angry when she finally tells her about it, but she wants it to be a surprise.

x

Rachel comes back into her room to Ann staring up at her from her bed on the other side of the room.

"What?"

"So, um, is that girl your girlfriend? She's really pretty."

"Um, we aren't official but we are more than friends, yes. Well, actually, we weren't that great of friends, we were always more than that."

"You guys got together after the incident, right?"

"Yes, sort of, but we loved each other long before then though."

"Oh, well I only asked because you became much happier since she got here, and it seemed you two were really close. I didn't want to ask in front of her in case you guys were just friends."

"It's okay, as long as you don't have a problem with it."

"Oh no, I definitely do not have a problem with it, two pretty girls in love, there's nothing wrong with that. Are you forgetting? You're in New York now, you two are free to marry if you want."

Rachel feels herself warm instantly at the acceptance from her roommate. She doesn't know why it feels good to have her support, but it does.

"Thanks, that was nice of you to say. I'm sorry that I don't talk to you very much, things have been stressful."

"It's okay. You've been through a lot, I understand."

x

Rachel pulls Quinn into a hug on the platform at Grand Central terminal. She pulls back, and this time they kiss deeper than before.

Rachel feels that something has changed in their relationship, she can feel herself letting go and moving forward. She wants this with Quinn, whatever they have, and more.

"Quinn, what are we doing?"

"What do you mean? Sadly, I'm about to leave."

"I mean, are we together, or…what?"

Oh. Quinn had not put much thought into their relationship, it just…was. She loves Rachel, and she knows that Rachel loves her, they tell each other all the time.

"I, um, you really picked a bad time to ask that question Rachel. But, we are together I guess. We were brought together under the most unpleasant circumstances, but we're still together now, so…"

"I want us to be together officially. I've thought about this and I want to be able to tell people that you're my girlfriend and that I'm yours."

"Okay, I want that too."

"So that's it? We're girlfriends?"

"Yes."

"That was pretty underwhelming for such an affirmation, but I'm still excited. Oh, Quinn." Rachel jumps up and wraps her arms around Quinn's neck.

Quinn holds her tightly around the waist as they experience their first official kiss as girlfriends.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm glad you are all enjoying this story. Things are going to get interesting soon.

* * *

Quinn grabs her coat and phone before she walks out of the door to get to class.

Buzz!

It's her broker calling to tell her that her apartment is ready. She goes to class anyway even though she wants to blow it off to get to New York.

After class for the day, she boards a train to New York with most of her new clothes and other things packed into a bag. She isn't moving out of her dorm and quitting school, but she wants her valuable things to be kept in her new apartment.

It's a fully furnished loft-style two bedroom apartment, so all Quinn has to do is buy bedding and décor. She knows that Rachel would want to do that with her so she decides to do other shopping first.

She goes to the bank and cashes out a large chunk of her money when she gets to New York. She purchased a four-foot tall safe and she already had it delivered to the apartment.

Despite all of the media claiming the virus contained, she is taking all precautions. She doesn't want the same thing to happen to her money if anything happens again.

She also shops for essentials for survival, a couple of tents in case they have to go into the woods, batteries and first aid supplies. This is only a start, she will have to space out her purchases since she doesn't have a car yet. Then she'll be able to get all of the foodstuffs they will need.

There is no need for a generator because the building runs partially on solar energy from panels on the rooftop. Quinn chose the apartment based on that and the fact that it is made mostly of brick and metal, so the building is sturdy too.

After dropping off those supplies, Quinn goes to K-mart and puts two rifles and a shotgun on layaway. Then she goes to a car dealership and buys a forest green Jeep Wrangler with a hardtop, and has it sent to a shop to have bulletproof windows with dark tint put in.

When she is finally done for the day, she goes back to the apartment to shower before going to surprise Rachel.

x

It has been an exhausting day for Rachel, she steps out of the shower and quickly dresses so that she could get back to her room and lie down.

She had to sing a solo in front of the class again which is always nerve wrecking, but to add to that, dance was particularly grueling. She was missing steps left and right, then she fell and hurt her hip. She really needs a massage or some Ben-Gay or something.

She sighs when she goes into her dark room, Ann couldn't be asleep already. She usually stays up all night, talking to her boyfriend on the phone. She doesn't think anything of it though, and goes to turn on her side table lamp, stubbing her toe in the process.

Ow!

She squeals in a high-pitched whisper. It's still dark, and she sits on her bed to rub at her toe. Something feels off, there is a familiar smell, she squints in the dark, Ann isn't even here. She hurries and turns on her lamp.

"Took you long enough." Quinn says from her position up against the wall on Rachel's side of the room.

Ahh!

"Quinn! You scared me! What the hell are you doing here?" Rachel yells as she clutches her chest, Quinn almost gave her a heart attack.

"Sorry, I wanted to surprise you. Well, I have a surprise _for_ you."

"A surprise?"

"Yeah," Quinn says with a nod. "But can you come here first?" She giggles as Rachel limps over to her with a smile on her face.

"I can't believe you're here." Rachel says as she snuggles into Quinn. "I had a rough day, and I was just going to bed."

"Are you okay?"

"I am now." Rachel mewls as she looks up, taking in Quinn's steady expression.

The corners of Quinn's lips upturn. She wants more of this. Before they go any further, she remembers her reason for being there. "Put on your boots and coat and come with me, we can drive the Prius."

x

They pull into the gated parking garage and Quinn parks the car in one of their designated spots.

"Quinn, I know you've been up to something ever since you got that money, but don't tell me…"

"I did, if you think what I think you're thinking."

"I want to say it, but I'm not sure. Just show me already!"

"Okay, let's go."

Quinn leads Rachel into the elevator, up to their floor until they come to the large riveted stainless steel door. Quinn unlocks the door and shows Rachel in, she reaches out and flips the light switch, the place lights up.

"So, what do you think?"

Rachel stands there, captivated partially by the size of the place, and the fact that Quinn has such great taste. She takes in the hardwood floors, the large windows, all of the brick, and the _kitchen. _It has all new stainless steel appliances and it is open, just like the rest of the place. There are fabric sofas and a rug in the living room area, but other than that, it is bare.

"This is amazing Quinn, I don't know what to say!" She lunges at Quinn, squeezing her tightly.

"I take that as a good thing then."

"You actually bought this place?"

"Yes. Come on, I'll show you upstairs!" Quinn grabs Rachel by the hand and leads her up the staircase to the second floor of the apartment.

"There are two bedrooms. We each have our own room." Quinn states.

Rachel cannot help but feel a little disappointed at hearing that, she didn't mind sharing a bed with Quinn. Actually, she preferred it. She almost voices the fact until she realizes that Quinn may want it that way, so she leaves it alone.

x

After a trip to the store, they come back to the apartment with some bedding and a few other things that Rachel picked out. They help each other make up their beds. By the time that they are finished, they are both out of it.

"I'm so tired." Quinn mumbles from the foot of the bed.

"Quinn,"

"Yeah,"

"Why did you get separate rooms?"

Quinn sits up, she got a two bedroom because she knew they would need the space for their stockpile, but she doesn't want Rachel to get scared again.

"There's two of us." Quinn states.

"So you don't want to sleep with me?" Rachel wishes that she had worded that differently. Now Quinn is looking at her with those eyes and she cannot get the steamy images out of her mind.

"Rachel, I would share a bed with you forever if I could. If it were up to me, we would, but you insist on me staying in school." Quinn rolls over and shrugs, feigning annoyance.

Rachel feels her face crack into a smile, she's glad Quinn feels the same way that she does.

"Let's go to bed." She tells Quinn, her voice noticeably lower.

Quinn smirks as she pulls back the covers, and they both crawl under them. They snuggle up to one another and Quinn rubs at Rachel's shoulder.

"That feels good Quinn. Could you do that a little lower?"

"Excuse me?"

"I hurt my hip today."

"Oh, sure."

Quinn slides her hand down Rachel's arm. Her eyes follow her hand until it dips under the blanket and reaches Rachel's hip. She starts rubbing in a circular motion.

_Ohhh_.

A groan escapes her mouth at the gentle pressure administered to the sore spot on her hip. They are lying side by side, facing each other, and Rachel moves further into Quinn. She nuzzles into Quinn's neck, pressing her lips there to suppress her moaning.

Quinn reflects on a time when she couldn't touch Rachel like this. Now that they are official, and she can do things like this, Quinn feels overwhelmed with joy.

Rachel lifts up and moves to kiss Quinn, but she turns her face.

"I can't kiss you when I'm doing this. It's too much."

"Quinn, I want to." Rachel pleads with her girlfriend when she shouldn't have to. She has no fear of going too far with Quinn, she's ready.

Quinn nods as she turns back to Rachel, allowing her to have all control. She moves her hand from Rachel's hip. She slides her hand upwards until Rachel grabs her hand and puts it directly on her ass.

Rachel kisses Quinn deeply, much like they have in the past. She swirls her tongue around Quinn's, and she gets that pull she always feels, down below. Her hands roam freely and she rubs down Quinn's back. When she palms her ass, she is treated with a thrust of Quinn's hips into her own. They both gasp at the contact. Quinn pulls back, out of breath.

"Um, uh, we're going to have to stop, Rach. It's uh, getting late."

"You say that, but I know the truth. You want this just as much as I do Quinn. So why don't we..." Rachel allows herself to trail off suggestively.

Quinn isn't sure that Rachel knows exactly how long she has been waiting for this. But she wants Rachel to be completely comfortable with what they are about to do.

"Are you sure?"

"Quinn Fabray, while I find it very noble of you to want to wait for me. I want you to listen, and listen good. I am ready."

Quinn can feel her eyes go wide. She goes to lean back into Rachel pausing to search her face for any signs of apprehension. She only finds lustful eyes and plump, parted lips. She surveys a heaving chest. Maybe she _is_ ready.

"Okay, but you have to let me know if you want to stop."

"God, shut up and kiss me Quinn." Rachel whispers breathlessly.

Like that, Quinn turns on, gripping Rachel, pulling her tightly against her body. She takes in a sharp breath of air as their lips crash together again fervently.

Rachel has to admit, she has wanted this for a long time, to be together with Quinn in this way. To touch her intimately, and to show her how much she loves her. She overcame the obstacles in her way, and she was able see just how lucky she is to have Quinn in her life.

Quinn takes her time, worshipping every inch uncovered before settling down between smooth tan thighs. She flashes Rachel her hungriest stare, as she takes in her scent. She had only dreamed of being in this position before, now that she's here, she doesn't want to mess up.

Rachel locks eyes with her as she settles down between her thighs. Quinn's pupils are open widely. She looks like a hungry animal, those hazel eyes remind Rachel of a panther stalking its prey. Quinn makes contact and her entire world goes black.

Quinn traces the tip of her tongue through Rachel's folds. The delectable taste urges her to stroke deeper in, swiping her way up until she reaches her clit. She pulls back a little and looks up at Rachel, who is now staring down at her.

She goes back in, keeping eye contact, as she tentatively begins to suck lightly at Rachel's clit. It elicits a deep moan from somewhere in Rachel's throat that Quinn wants to hear again. She keeps at it, inducing high-pitched whimpers as Rachel's entire body shudders. Quinn watches her as her body tenses and then relaxes seconds later.

"Did you?" Quinn asks curiously.

"M-hmm. I think so." Rachel replies between pants.

Quinn crawls back up the bed until she rests next Rachel. They lie there in silence as Rachel tries to catch her breath.

Quinn cannot believe she just did that. She looks at Rachel lying there with her eyes closed, sweaty and satiated. She was the one that caused it, finally able to show her just a tiny bit how much she loves her.

"I didn't think it was possible, but I think I love you even more now."

"Not as much as I love you Quinn."

x

It's Friday, Quinn's back in New York for the entire weekend for the first time since they moved into her apartment. She had been running herself ragged going to school from the apartment all week, but seeing Rachel more was the reward for all of the extra stress. The distance had always been troublesome for Quinn. Now, after they finally consummated their relationship, Quinn never wants to leave.

"Well how are you today darling?" asks her new neighbor, Mrs. Robinson.

"Hello Gale, I'm fine thank you." Quinn says as she enters the elevator after Mrs. Robinson steps out.

"Good, you have a nice day, okay?"

"Okay,"

She walks into her apartment to hear Rachel already there, but she's with someone else.

"Rachel?" She calls out.

"In the kitchen!" Rachel shouts.

Quinn walks around the partition to see Rachel in the kitchen with her roommate.

"Hey,"

"Quinn, you remember Ann. She was helping me bring the rest of my stuff over after class, and she wanted to see the apartment as well."

"Yeah, I remember. Hi," Quinn says dryly.

Rachel looks back and forth between Quinn and Ann. Quinn is just standing there, ignoring Ann's presence, and Ann looks as if she is legitimately frightened.

"Quinn, do you want some lemonade? I just made it." Rachel asks nervously, she swallows hard. She is beginning to feel afraid herself, the way Quinn is narrowing her eyes at her.

"Um, I was just about to go, so I'll see you at school Rachel."

Rachel gestures questioningly at Quinn. Then she goes to show Ann out.

"Okay Quinn, what the hell was that? You were really rude to Ann."

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I just…you didn't tell me she was here."

"Were you jealous?"

"No, I wasn't jealous, and I have nothing against you having friends. I just don't want you getting too close to someone when we're still in a dangerous position."

"What? So that _is_ what all that stuff in the other room is for. At first, I thought you were being paranoid. Is it here?" Rachel asks apprehensively.

"See, that's why I haven't talked to you about it, I didn't want you to get upset. It isn't here, but I think that there is a very good chance that the news isn't telling us everything. They don't want to start a panic and I understand that, but that won't stop me from being prepared."

"With that Jeep and all of those guns, I thought that you had taken up hunting for a moment. I was going to have a long discussion with you about it, but then I caught on."

Quinn chuckles, she loves when Rachel says things like that, especially with a straight face.

Buzz!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry about the long wait for an update, I hope there are still some fans of this story. Thank you to everyone that has enjoyed so far. More to come.

* * *

Rachel feels inside her dress pocket to retrieve her cell phone. She looks down at the caller and she cannot believe her eyes.

"It's an Ohio number." She says.

"Answer it." Quinn tells her.

"H-hello,"

A man on the line tells her that he has some news for her. Her father has been searching for her ever since he found out that she was alive.

So, one of her fathers is alive, this is unbelievable. She starts crying immediately and Quinn rushes over to her.

"Is he there? C-can I speak to him?"

He tells her that he'll have to patch her through to the checkpoint. She grips onto Quinn's hand as they sit on the couch waiting to hear from her dad.

"Hello?"

Rachel bursts into more tears of joy at the sound of her father Leroy on the other end of the line. She thought that she would never hear his voice again.

"Dad," She chokes out between sobs.

Quinn scoots over closer, so that she can hear.

"Baby girl, hey." Leroy says brokenly.

Rachel pulls herself together to actually ask him a question.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the state line, I came here after the bank told me that you had filed a death certificate for me and your father." He pauses and Rachel grips her chest because she can hear the grief in her father's voice.

"Baby, I thought you were dead too. After your father was bitten, I made it back to the house and I found Finn. How did you make it out by yourself?"

Rachel looks over at Quinn, she sees the solemn expression on her face and she feels so thankful.

"I wasn't alone Daddy. Quinn saved me. She's with me right now."

"Quinn Fabray? I'm so glad you're safe honey. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"I missed you too Dad. When are they letting you out of quarantine?"

"I found out yesterday that they are letting people out who have relatives to come and get them. I saw Sam, well, he saw me. His aunt was picking up him and his family. He told me that Mercedes' family was okay and that she is in Los Angeles."

"That's great! So, we have to come there and pick you up?"

"Yes, but they only do it on weekdays, so you'll have to come on Monday. I can't wait to see you."

"I can't wait either, baby girl."

x

Quinn lags whenever it is time to go back to New Haven. She has taken to leaving early on Monday mornings.

"Quinn baby, wake up. It's almost 6." Rachel nudges her girlfriend's shoulder to wake her.

"Five more minutes." Quinn mumbles.

Rachel smiles down at Quinn, hair ruffled badly, with her lithe topless form beneath the sheets. She doesn't want Quinn to go anywhere either, but she knows Quinn cannot afford to miss any class. She sits up and rocks her from side to side.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. I'm up." Quinn sits straight up and Rachel feels a blush creep across her cheeks as she blatantly leers at her girlfriend's breasts.

Quinn looks over at Rachel, her cheeks pink and her pupils blown, she knows that look. She beckons her girlfriend over with a curled finger. Quinn moves forward to press her lips into Rachel's.

"Quinn, no…morning breath." Rachel says with a wrinkled nose.

"Seriously? I believe I've encountered worse. Get back here."

Quinn's hands snake up Rachel's back beneath her thin t-shirt. She raises her arms, allowing Quinn to pull it over her head. They both gasp at the feeling of their bodies becoming flush with each other.

"God Quinn, we have to make this quick, you have to go soon."

"Don't worry," Quinn whispers as she kisses down the side of her neck.

Quinn slides her hand down Rachel's front, tracing over her abs, landing between their joined hips, cupping her gently. Rachel whimpers into her neck, and her breathing becomes labored. Quinn watches as her eyebrows knit together before gently slipping her fingers in. Rachel's mouth drops open, releasing a breathy moan, then she digs her nails into Quinn's shoulder blades.

Rachel holds onto Quinn for dear life, the sensations that she has been making her feel are so new that she fears she may pass out sometimes. Now is one of those times.

"Quinn,"

"Just let go, it's okay. I'm right here." Quinn assures her.

It was as if Quinn's words hit some sort of release button somewhere inside of her, because she feels her world coming apart right after she whispers them into her ear.

"God, you are so beautiful. I love you so much," Quinn places a soft kiss at Rachel's temple.

They shower together afterwards, it has become an integral part of their morning routine. Quinn chalks that up to nostalgia, even though that first time was one of the creepiest ordeals they have ever been through together.

x

Rachel goes with Quinn to the train station. She pulls Quinn in for their usual long hug goodbye. They pull back and perform their ritual three-peck kiss before parting.

"Remember, you have to be back to drive me to go pick up my dad."

"Yeah, I remember, I'll be here. I really don't get why you insist that I go to class today. We could sleep in and take off this evening, Rachel."

Quinn adjusts her backpack on her shoulders. The train pulls up, and passengers make their exits.

"Quinn, you need to-"

Ow!

They lock eyes, then they both turn to look down the terminal.

"That bastard just bit me!" Shouts a man, holding his bloody hand.

Two officers are struggling with the assailant, they try handcuffing him, but he continues snapping at them.

Quinn grabs onto Rachel.

"This can't be happening! What are we going to do Quinn?" Rachel starts hyperventilating.

Quinn rubs at Rachel's back in an attempt to soothe her girlfriend. She has no idea what to do now. They had been safe for months, and now the virus is here in New York.

"First, we need to get the hell out of here." She reaches down, capturing Rachel's hand.

"As long as we stick together, we'll survive. We've done it before and we'll do it again. Okay, baby?"

Rachel sniffles and then straightens up. She knows that Quinn is right. They've made it through this before. This time they have a heads up. They rush out of the train station hand in hand.

x

Quinn turns on the news on the living room television as well as the radio in the bedroom. She starts pulling out all of their supplies, she and Rachel drag the footlockers near the front door. She empties the safe into a duffel bag before checking the ammo on the weapons.

"I'm going to call Ann." Rachel says as she pulls out her phone.

"Alright, but we only have seven seats in the Jeep, it can only be her okay."

Quinn had planned exactly what she would do whenever the virus made to New York. She has already informed their neighbors of the situation and so far Mrs. Robinson and their older male neighbor, Mr. Johnson have been on board with fleeing along with her and Rachel.

The only problem she has had was with Zack, he listened to her plan and then told her that he could fend for himself if anything were to happen before slamming his door in her face. She would love to see him begging for that last spot in the Jeep, he was such a jerk to her.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Oh, goodness, what are you doing up so early darling?"

"Gale, it's Code Red. We are packing everything up and heading out soon. Gather anything that you think you may need, medicine and things like that."

"My God, I have to call my sister and let her know."

"Okay, just come up to my apartment when you're ready."

Quinn goes to Mr. Johnson's door next, he is a very meticulous older gentleman. Rachel thinks that he reminds her of her Dad, he always has on a nice suit. Where they're going, he may not fare too well.

"Mr. Johnson, Code Red."

"What do I do?"

"Just-grab what you need and come to my apartment."

She contemplates just going back to her apartment, but for some reason she goes up to that Zack guy's apartment anyway.

"What? It's like 6 o'clock! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sorry, but the virus is here, and I was just trying to let you know that we're going through with the plan. So, if you've changed your mind-"

"I haven't, I'll check it out though, thanks for the heads up." He closes his door in her face again.

Quinn has no idea how Rachel stays so optimistic when it comes to idiot people. She swears, if he tries to come with them after all of his asshole behavior, he has another thing coming.

x

"I'm glad you two are coming, Quinn has been preparing for this for a while, so…we're in good hands." Rachel nods as she sits across from Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Robinson in her living room.

Ann still hasn't called her back, she said that she would come as soon as she notifies her family and gets some things that she may need. Rachel hopes that she'll make it to the apartment before Quinn gets impatient and leaves without her.

Rachel goes over her mental checklist, she helped drag out the lockers, cooked everyone breakfast, she called Ann…then it dawns on her, they were supposed to pick up her dad today.

She jumps up out of her seat and rushes to go find Quinn.

"Quinn!"

"What is it?"

"We forgot about my Dad!" Rachel is almost hysterical, she cannot believe that they were about to flee without going to pick up her Daddy.

"Oh my God! Everything happened so quickly, I'm sorry that I forgot, sweetie. W-we'll go get him, just us though. I'll tell them to stay locked in our apartment." Quinn knows that they'll be safe in here for months, just in case she and Rachel don't return.

"Okay, I'm ready. We have to go now."

"Yeah, alright, don't panic, Rachel."

They both go downstairs to inform Mrs. Robinson and Mr. John of the situation. Rachel makes sure to tell them to expect her friend named Ann some time soon.

Quinn makes sure to get the duffel bag, some toiletries, food and a shotgun, putting it all in the backseat of the Jeep. She and Rachel are off within thirty minutes towards the Holland tunnel, on their way to Pennsylvania.

"Make sure you keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. We don't want to drive into a dangerous area if we can help it."

"Sure, I still remember how to be a lookout, Quinn."

"Rachel, I was just saying,"

"Whatever,"

Quinn takes a quick glance over at Rachel, she looks nervous. She's starting to be snippy with her for no reason just because she's scared. She wants her to stop worrying and to let her know that she'll always be here to take care of her no matter what.

"You know that I love you, right?"

"Right."

"And I'll do anything to protect you, okay."

"Okay."

"Could you stop just repeating the last words that I say and listen to me? God, you can be so frustrating, Rachel."

"Sorry, I can't concentrate Quinn. I feel horrible, I almost forgot about my Dad today."

"But you didn't baby, you remembered and we're on our way to get him now. Don't start feeling guilty for something you had no control over."

Rachel takes a deep breath, "I guess you're right. I can't wait to see him."

"Me too. I'll finally get to ask for your hand in person." Quinn jokes.

"Don't say things like that unless you're serious. Now is not the time to play with my heart." Rachel cracks a small smile as she watches Quinn's profile from the passenger seat. She loves Quinn so much, she would say yes to anything she'd ask right now.

Quinn thinks about it too, seeing how everything is going, she may be more serious than she or Rachel may think.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So, I think that I'll be able to finish this story soon. It will be about ten chapters, if I play my cards right. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

_Emergency Alert System: This is a report from the Emergency Services of New York State. There are reports of isolated incidents in which several cases of the dubbed 'Zombie' virus have been encountered in New York City, Manhattan, and neighboring areas. There is no need to panic, police and military officers are securing the areas of reported infection. Authorities warn citizens to stay inside as much as possible during the week, only leaving your home when absolutely necessary. Officials say…_

Quinn turns down the radio, she and Rachel are making good time as they travel through Pennsylvania. There is little traffic, only building up whenever they get near a bigger city.

She looks over at Rachel, sleeping soundly in the passenger seat. She's glad that Rachel had not heard the report, she just wants to pick up Leroy, get back home and head North.

They come upon the Ohio state line at around 2 p.m. Quinn nudges Rachel to wake her up.

"Nice job, look out."

"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night, thanks to you."

Quinn smirks to herself. "Well, we're almost there, just-we're in a lot of traffic."

"I see." Rachel says as she looks out her window at all of the people, probably coming to pick up their loved ones as well.

They are directed to follow an arrow pointing to a parking area after telling an officer their reason for visiting the checkpoint. A few minutes another officer comes up to Quinn's window with a clipboard.

"Hello miss, can I have the name of the person or persons you are here to pick up today?"

"Yes, Leroy Berry."

"And that's Berry? Like you eat?"

Quinn nods.

"Okay, and I need your name and your passenger's name."

"Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry."

They watch as he scribbles down their names on his paper, and then he leans down to talk into his radio. He calls in Leroy's name and awaits a response from his colleague.

The person on the other side of the radio sounds distorted and neither Quinn nor Rachel can make out what they said. The officer is obviously used to it and speaks a response. He comes back to their window.

"So, it looks like it'll be a few minutes, but Mr. Berry will be out soon." He nods at them before walking over to another car.

Rachel starts crying, she grabs onto Quinn's hand as she looks into her eyes.

"He's really here, Quinn. I'm about to see my Daddy." She begins to fan herself, it would be senseless to faint before she even gets to see him.

"Rachel, calm down a little. Freak out after you see him, okay?"

Rachel leans forward, looking periodically in the mirrors to see if he's coming. She sits on her hands when she doesn't know what to do with them anymore.

Quinn lets out a sigh when she notices a gaunt-looking Leroy Berry making his way towards the officer that helped them earlier. He talks to the man, who points over to their vehicle, before shaking his hand and coming over.

Rachel spins in her seat, swinging open her car door and jumping out.

"Daddy!" She runs over to him almost knocking him over with the force of her hug.

"Baby!" He cries out, wrapping his arms tightly around his little girl.

Quinn leans against her door, biting her lip to try to curb her tears as she watches them. They are both sobbing and speaking incoherent sentences about how they missed each other.

When they finally pull apart, Rachel wraps an arm around his waist as she leads him over to the car.

"Quinn, hello," He grabs her into a hug, bringing Rachel along too.

The three of them stand there in an embrace. Rachel feels so fortunate to have her dad back, but so sad that her other dad didn't make it. She's having her second-wind of tears as they pull apart and load themselves into the car.

Rachel sits in the back with her dad, "Daddy, you've lost so much weight, I barely recognized you at first."

"There wasn't much food for everyone, and even then, I wasn't in the mood to eat anything for a while."

Quinn cringes, and she feels her stomach twist. She remembers how distraught Rachel had been after Finn died. Rachel's dads were together for _years_, she can't imagine how he feels now.

Rachel talks with her dad as they drive along, telling him about her life in New York. She makes sure to let him know that she started school, and that she lives with Quinn now. She then remembers that she should probably tell him about their relationship sooner rather than later.

"Quinn," she taps Quinn's shoulder to get her attention. When she glances to the side, Rachel raises her eyebrows at her. Quinn nods in response, and Rachel can see her hands tighten around the steering wheel.

"So dad, you know that Quinn and I have made it through this whole ordeal together,"

"Uh-huh," He says, listening.

"Well, we've become really close and, we're-we're sort of together. No! We are. We are together, as in dating. No! Girlfriends, we're girlfriends, daddy." Rachel giggles nervously at her own rambling.

Leroy raises his eyebrows, "Really," he says.

Rachel nods.

"Well, I may have suspected when you told me you were with her that day that I had called. But when you started off by saying 'Quinn and I', I knew to expect the rest of what you just said."

"I just wanted to let you know, dad. Before, oh, we have to tell him about the plan, Quinn!"

x

It's late in the afternoon when they reach New York, things have gotten worse since they left. Sirens sound as they make their way back through the city. Quinn keeps a look out, and proceeds with a lot more caution.

"Hey, I think I want to stop off and get some more food and supplies. I have a feeling that we're going to need more."

She deviates from their original path to go to a warehouse grocery store. They stock up on as much dried and canned goods they can fit in half of the trunk space. Quinn tells them that they want to keep in mind the other supplies that they have to fit there when they get home.

"How did you get so good at this, Quinn?" Leroy asks as he helps her load in a bag of rice.

"My dad was one of those jerk Republicans with a membership of the NRA. He used to take me camping and hunting when I was younger." Quinn feels a prickle in her eye at the mention of her father. As much as she grew to hate him, she loved spending those moments out in the forest with him.

"Quinn," Leroy checks to make sure Rachel isn't listening, "Thank you for taking care of my daughter. You don't know how happy you've made me, you are a good person, genuinely. Rachel always knew that you were." He pats her shoulder before he leaves her side to go and return the shopping cart.

Quinn frowns, did Rachel talk about her to her dads? She had told them that she was a good person. Leroy thinks that she is a good person now, because of Rachel. Where would she be without her? After her experience with those creatures, probably a serial killer by now.

They pull into the garage of their apartment building at around dusk. If they hurry and pack, they can make it to the forest before daylight.

"This is a nice building, how did you two afford to live here?" Leroy asks as they enter the elevator.

"Inheritance," Is all Quinn says as she presses the button for their floor.

Quinn knocks on her front door and announces their presence before unlocking the door and coming in.

"Darlings, glad you made it back, we were getting worried. Hello," Mrs. Robinson greets Leroy as she stares up at him with a smile.

"Ann!" Rachel runs over and gives her friend a hug. "You made it. We're going to be leaving soon-" her eyes catch sight of an extra person in the living room.

"I-I hope it's okay. I brought Charles along." Ann looks at Rachel pleadingly.

Quinn grabs Rachel by the back of the shirt. "Can I see you in the kitchen, babe?"

Rachel already knows that she is pissed by the way she speaks through her teeth. "Sure,"

"What the hell? I specifically said, no extra people! There are only seven seats!"

"I know that, just-we're trying to save these people's lives, Quinn."

"Yeah, remind me why we're doing this again."

"This was all a part of _your_ plan. But even if there are a few extras in there, it makes for a better chance of long term survival as a community."

"Ah, I guess you're right, but I'm not going to be nice to them though."

Rachel laughs, she knows that whenever Quinn gets mean, she's covering up the fact that she cares too much. In this case, it's because she doesn't want to grow too attached to anyone.

x

"That's the last of it," Leroy says as he and Mr. Johnson hoist the last footlocker into the trunk.

Everything is loaded into the trunk of the Jeep and they talk over who will drive first and the order from there on.

Quinn has a map sprawled out on the hood, and they all pour over it. She traces their path all the way up to Highway 87 and then it is a straight shot to the Adirondacks. Mr. Johnson and Leroy talk over which of them will drive first. Mr. Johnson knows the area leaving the city best, so he'll be driving first.

_Hey!_

Quinn's eyes snap up from the map, "You have got to be fucking kidding me." She mumbles.

"Hey, I thought you guys were already gone. I knocked on your door and no one answered. I thought I was fucked." Zack says out of breath.

He walks over them, "I-I know, that I was an asshole, but…I was watching the news and I…I have my own gun, see? Q-quinn? I'm sorry for blowing you off. I thought that you were being paranoid, um, please let me come along. I'll die here."

Quinn had a feeling that something like this would happen. If she says no to him, all of these people would think that she was a monster. Leroy thinks that she's a good person, she can't let him or more importantly, Rachel down.

"Whatever, squeeze in where you can. You better hold your own weight and help out, otherwise, you'll be left to find your own way. Got it!" Quinn glares at him.

"Oh, thank God. I could kiss you, but I know you'll break my jaw." He lets out a nervous giggle as Quinn holds her glare. "Ha-ha, I got it, I'll help out. I'm a good shot, too."

x

Rachel holds Quinn as she sleeps in their shared seat in the middle row across from Mrs. Robinson. Ann, Charles and Zack all share the back row as Mr. Johnson drives and Leroy rides shotgun, literally. He has the gun across his lap, the barrel pointing towards the door, of course.

"Whoa, there's a fire." One of the guys says from the back seat.

That wakes Quinn up, she looks out of the window, and curses under her breath. They may have waited a little too long to get out of there.

They are stuck in gridlocked traffic and they haven't even made it out of the city yet. As they move along, there are more and more sightings of newly made creatures, bloody, and still human looking.

"Mr. Johnson, the next stop we make for gas, everyone is going to have to get armed." Quinn says.

He pulls into a brightly lit gas station and they spring into action. After the fifth stop, they had developed a system of lookouts, a gas pumper, and partners for bathroom trips.

This gas station, however lit up, is a bit eerie looking with its similarity to the one that Quinn and Rachel encountered on their journey, all those months ago.

Quinn opens the trunk and starts handing out weapons. She is already wearing her tool belt, so she sheaths her machete and holsters her pistol. She hands Rachel the shotgun before getting out her bandana. She ties it around her head as she had before, and like that, she is in kill mode.

They all get back inside of the Jeep as they wait for Mrs. Robinson and Ann to come out of the bathroom.

"Holy shit!" Zack screams from the back seat and everyone turns to look out the windows.

A staggering creature is inside the store of the gas station. Quinn makes to open her door, when there's more movement outside of the station. They all look around, if they all get out, there is a chance that they'll be bitten. Leroy starts the Jeep and pulls up to the front entrance of the store, bypassing the slow moving creatures.

"I'll go get them." Charles says. He opens the door and runs inside the store.

They watch helplessly as Gale and Ann come out of the hall leading to the bathroom, the creature must smell them because it goes right after them.

Charles finally gets close enough to wrestle it away from Ann. He struggles, but he is strong enough to push it away and take a shot to the head. The creature twitches as it falls. Charles turns around to give them a thumbs up, proud of his first kill.

"Oh, God." Rachel says as they all see it, another creature comes up behind them from the hall.

They try to holler at them, pointing at the creature behind them. It's too late when they finally see it and it takes a huge bite out of Mrs. Robinson's neck. Charles grabs Ann and puts her behind him, he cocks his weapon and shoots the thing's head off. Mrs. Robinson falls down with the creature.

"Quinn, where are you going?" Rachel asks, holding Quinn's arm.

"They're trying to bring her out here. I'm going to stop them."

Rachel lets her go.

"Oh man, she's losing a lot of blood. Come on, we have to get her out of here Ann."

"No! You can't take her anywhere." They both look up, surprised to see Quinn.

"What do you mean? She's going to die if we don't." Ann says.

"Listen up, she's been bitten, she's as good as dead now. We have to leave her or she'll become one of those creatures in the back seat with you two later on."

"So, we're just going to leave her here to suffer alone?"

Quinn looks down at Gale, blood sputtering from her mouth and neck. She tilts her head, "Well," she un-holsters her pistol.

Bang!

"No, we're not." She turns swiftly and heads back to the Jeep, a traumatized Ann and Charles follow closely behind.

They all get back into the Jeep, and Quinn hangs out the window, blasting the heads of any creatures that come near as they drive away.


	9. Chapter 9

It's been hours since they've seen their last creature, and they are making good time on their way to the forest around the Adirondack mountains. It's the nearest forest area that Quinn could think of that could provide seclusion until the government gets rid of the virus. She knows that she's probably putting too much faith in the system, but she has to have some hope.

Rachel wakes up after however long to find her father still driving. He has to be exhausted, why is he still behind the wheel? She looks around to find that everyone else is asleep. One look out of the window shows that they are in a heavily forested area. Hopefully Quinn was right, and this will be a safe place to stay for a while. She's been having a nagging feeling that even more problems await them in the future.

They are in the mountains now and the road is very winding. Rachel sits up and watches over her Dad's shoulder to keep a look out for any fallen branches or boulders in the road. He comes around a particularly twisted curve near dense brush. The headlights shine a short path in front of them and it's too late to stop when a deer appears into view.

"Dad! Look out!" Rachel screams.

Screech!

Leroy swerves hard in order to miss the deer. He doesn't hit it, but he loses control over the Jeep and it flips over, tumbling down into the brush.

The Jeep bounces along hitting tree after tree, everyone is awake now and screaming at the top of their lungs.

They finally come to a stop after running head on into a tree. The Jeep is at an awkward angle and Rachel turns her head, wincing at the pain. She sees Quinn in the seat next to her unconscious. She reaches out a hand and rubs at her arm to try to wake her up. There is glass everywhere and she shakes some out of her hair, seeing blood covered shards fall to the floor.

A look out her broken window shows only fog and trees. She unbuckles her seatbelt when she hears a few of them groaning. She takes a deep breath and it hurts but she gets up to get to Quinn, she shakes her this time and she gets no response.

"Quinn?" She shakes harder. "Quinn! Wake up! Quinn, please!" She cries.

"Hey! Quinn! Oh man." Zack says as he looks her over, there is blood dripping down from under her bandana.

Rachel feels a soft hand on her back and she turns to see Mr. Johnson.

"Sweetie, your father," He says.

She swivels around to see her Dad unconscious as well. She unbuckles him and he falls forward, as soon as his face hits the steering wheel, he pops back up.

"Oh thank God you're okay Daddy. Are you hurt?"

"No, I think I just passed out from the shock."

"Okay," She doesn't want to turn back around and face the fact that Quinn is injured and not responding. This cannot be happening, they have gotten through too much for it to end like this.

Cough!

Quinn gasps for air as she takes her first breath after apparently not doing that for a few minutes. She could hear Rachel and other people screaming at her, but it seemed to be coming from far in the distance. Her head hurts, and she reaches up, pulling back a hand covered in blood.

"What happened?" She asks groggily.

"Oh my God baby, you're alive! W-we were in an accident." Rachel says through her tears.

"What? No," Quinn unbuckles her seatbelt, she has to check the supplies.

"Quinn what are you doing? You're injured." Rachel tries to get her to stay put, she doesn't want her thinking she's okay only to fall over and die in a few minutes.

"I have to check…the trunk! It's open, where is all of our stuff?" Quinn yells.

"Honey, calm down, I'll go check on it. You stay put." Leroy says as he forcefully shoulders his door open.

"Um, guys?" Ann says quietly from the back row.

"Ann are you okay?" Rachel asks.

"Yes, but Charles' leg, I think it's broken. He's been going in and out of consciousness."

Zack turns to go back and check on him. "I can't see anything back here. We are going to have to move him. Where's Mr. Johnson?"

Rachel turns to see his door open as well. "He must be helping my Dad."

"Okay well, Ann is it? Yeah, put your arm around him and pull her towards the middle." Zack helps guide Charles to the center seat.

"Man, that is bad."

"I've got a lot of first-aid supplies, I'll go check,"

"No you are not Quinn!" Rachel yells, Quinn seems to not feel her injuries as she moves to exit the vehicle. "Oh my God!" Rachel screams in shock, there is a lot of blood on Quinn's seat, her clothes, and the window. How is she still moving?

"Quinn come here, let me check your head. You've lost a lot of blood."

"What? Whoa," Quinn looks down at her seat, she cannot believe her eyes.

"That is a lot of blood, but my head feels fine Rachel."

"That's the problem Quinn! It shouldn't feel fine, you should be lying down. At least sit back down, _please."_

Quinn sighs, but she listens to Rachel. Her head does not even hurt, which is weird, but it could be because she is in shock. She doesn't want to risk injuring herself any further and end up leaving Rachel for good out here. And she hates scaring her, so she'll let her check her out just to be sure.

She removes her bandana and uses it wipe some of the blood from her face.

"Here," Rachel reaches for the bandana and begins to clean Quinn's face. It's dawn and the small amount of light is helpful in surveying their injuries. She takes a look at Quinn's head, there is too much blood to see anything, but it looks as if the bleeding has stopped though.

"We have to get out of here, what if there are creatures out here? We're bleeding, they'll smell it and come to have a snack. Shit! Where's my gun?" Quinn reaches down to feel under the seat, she finds her 357 magnum, and re-holsters it.

"Guys, we've gathered as much of the supplies as we can. We should get out of here as soon as the sun comes up." Leroy says through the broken window.

Quinn looks to the back seat, "Is he okay?"

"I don't see any other injuries besides the leg. But it looks like a compound fracture."

Rachel looks to Quinn, she looks worried. Sure, Charles' injury is bad, but she should be worried about herself right now.

x

"Alright, let's get out of here." Rachel has to kick her door before it swings open, then it falls to the ground. "Come on Quinn, let's get out of the way so that my Dad can come help them get Charles out."

They hop out of the Jeep, and Rachel keeps a hold of Quinn to make sure that she doesn't fall over. Leroy gets in and Mr. Johnson stands by to help get Charles out.

The condition of the Jeep is shocking, all of the glass is broken, there is twisted and dented metal everywhere, and all four tires are flat. They are all lucky to be alive.

"God, it's worse than I'd expected. The car is totaled." Quinn says as she checks the engine. She looks up the path of the Jeep and sees all of their supplies strewn about, littering the surrounding bushes and trees.

She runs to the trunk and she sees the two beaten up footlockers sitting on the ground, Leroy and Mr. Johnson must have brought them over.

They sit Charles on a nearby fallen tree trunk and lift up his pant leg. It is a compound fracture, and it needs to be set.

Quinn opens up a locker to fish out a few first aid kits, some alcohol, and an ace bandage. She rushes back over to him with the supplies.

"We're going to have to set the bone and then patch him up before we go anywhere."

"What? But what if he goes into shock?" Ann asks worriedly as she cradles Charles' head. He is shivering, and they need to do this quickly.

Quinn orders Zack to get into position to yank his leg back into shape. She puts a tongue depressor into Charles' mouth for him to bite down on. Rachel cleans the area with the alcohol, causing Charles to scream out in pain.

"Hold him still, Ann!" Quinn shouts. Then she counts down from three, and Zack pulls as hard as he could. Quinn runs to find a piece of car seat to put against his leg as a stabilizer. They bandage to open wound and then they tie the piece of plastic on his leg, using duct tape to hold it in place.

They let him rest as Ann keeps him calm. Then they scatter to go around and search for any salvageable supplies or food items.

Quinn rushes over when she sees the duffle bag full of valuables hanging in a tree, it's still closed luckily. She shoulders the bag and moves on, they've lost a lot of the rice and beans and what's left in the bags is not enough to sustain seven people for a long time.

She stalks over to Rachel, who has a bag filled with random findings.

"Hey, I found the money bag," she whispers. "I don't know when or if we'll need it, but I'm glad I found it. Also, my mom's gun is in here and extra bullets."

"Great. I found some clothing, a few protein bars and these packages of water treatment."

"Okay, I guess that'll have to do because, look, we've lost most of the rice and beans." She shows Rachel the remnants.

"I was depending on that, what am I going to eat out here Quinn?"

"We'll find something, okay? Don't worry, we have to find a place to settle first, and then maybe come back after we rest."

Rachel takes a deep breath, she is trying not to worry, but things are really bad now. They don't have a car, they have no idea where they are, they have little supplies now and there is a chance that there are creatures already here.

Zack and Mr. Johnson help carry Charles as Leroy, Quinn, Rachel and Ann carry the footlockers. Quinn also has two tents and the duffel bag on her back. Rachel has the toiletries and clothes in a bag and Ann has a tent, sleeping bags and her bag on her back as well. They move slowly at first, but then Rachel hears water and they move faster as they near a clearing by a creek.

After they set up the tents and set up a place to build a fire, Quinn and Rachel go to gather firewood. They follow the path of the river and Quinn has a bucket with her to carry the wood back in.

"Quinn, you need to clean yourself up, I brought us some clothes, and no one can see us down here."

Quinn looks down at her entire right side, she is still damp with all of that blood. She strips down and then fills the bucket with water.

"Here, dump it over my head so that I can try to scrub it off."

Rachel slowly pours the bucket of water over Quinn's right side as she rubs and most of it comes off. She refills the bucket and repeats the process until Quinn is almost clean. She hurries and redresses in the fresh clothing so that Rachel can wash up as well. After they are done, they go off into the trees to try to find some wood.

x

They carry an armful and a bucketful of wood and kindling as they head back to camp.

Scrunch!

"What was that?"

They peek around a tree and see a creature sniffing its way towards Quinn's discarded bloody clothes. Quinn digs around to find a long tree branch so that they can bash its head in from behind. Rachel grabs one as well and they quietly make their way over to the creature.

Quinn raises the branch above her head and comes down hard on the head of the creature. It takes several blows before the thing falls flat and stops moving entirely.

"Is it de- Ahh!" Rachel spins around to find herself face to face with the milky dead eyes of a decaying creature.

It grabs her by the arm and she quickly takes a swing at it. It snaps at her again so she keeps hitting it and then Quinn screams at her, "Kill it Rachel!" She swings once more with all of her might and it goes down.

She takes a deep breath as she stares down at the dead undead creature.

"Good job, baby." Quinn says as she goes to give Rachel a pat on the back. She flinches, so Quinn pulls her into a hug.

"It's just me Rachel. Come on, let's hurry back to camp, there might be more of them out here, and we have to create a safe perimeter."

"Okay," Rachel nods as she interlocks her fingers with Quinn's.

They get back to the others and inform them of the presence of creatures. Quinn has the idea to create a barrier surrounding their camp so that they will know if a creature has approached the area.

Leroy, Mr. John and Zack use rope to make the barrier and they tie on water bottles with pebbles inside as rattles. Quinn opens the footlocker that houses the weapons and gets out a rifle for Ann and she makes sure that her shotgun is loaded as well as Rachel's. Leroy and Zack have their guns as they do the first check around the perimeter. Meanwhile, Rachel and Quinn get the fire started and then they try to prepare a meal for everyone.

"God, I can't get these open. I lost my freaking knife."

Rachel smiles as she remembers that she still has Finn's Swiss Army knife. She pulls it out and cuts the tops off the packages of soup mix for Quinn.

"Thank you," Quinn says as she hangs the pot over the open flame, after it begins to boil, she adds in one cup of rice. She hopes that if they can ration it out a cup at a time, they can eat for a week or two.

x

The sun begins to set soon after they eat, and everyone is tired. There are four tents, Rachel and Quinn share one, and Ann stays in the largest one with Charles. Mr. Johnson and Leroy sleep in the other two as Zack stays up to keep watch. He will then switch places with Mr. Johnson later on.

Quinn waits for Rachel to get inside of the sleeping bag before she moves in for a kiss. They wrap their arms around each other desperate to feel as close as possible again.

"I missed your lips, I don't think I remember the last time I've kissed them." Quinn husks.

"Maybe that's because you've suffered such a blow to your head. Are you sure you're okay? I forgot to check your wound earlier."

Quinn laughs. "No, I'm okay. I'm still walking and talking aren't I?"

"You don't know how scared I was, I thought that you were gone."

"But I'm not, I'm right here. I would never leave you like that."

"I would have died right after, you know. I don't know how, but, I cannot see myself living out here like this without you."

"Hey, don't talk like that, Rachel. You would have still had your dad out here, and there is still hope of a cure in the future. So even without me, I want you to carry on and keep living, okay."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to let anything happen to you out here. That way, I won't have to even think about living without you ever again."

"As long as we keep looking out for each other, we'll be together forever."

"Forever, yeah." Rachel nods as she tucks her head beneath Quinn's chin and falls asleep immediately.

Quinn holds her tightly, she hates that she almost left her today. Her love for Rachel must have been so strong that it brought her back. She can still remember hearing Rachel calling her name in the distance. She thanks God for giving her yet another chance, it had to be a miracle, she lost a lot of blood and she feels fine.

Today went completely wrong and there are many problems to be had in the near future. Quinn decides not to dwell on it just yet and she finally closes her eyes and allows sleep to come over her.

Bang! Bang!

"Um, a little help? There's way too many, dudes!" Zack yells.

Quinn is up quickly and she grabs her shotgun to go out to help Zack.

"What are you doing? Stay put Rachel, I'll call you if it gets bad."

Rachel stays behind and watches Quinn rush out there in her condition. She grabs her gun and goes out there too, she isn't going to let Quinn's over protectiveness keep her from helping out.

As soon as Rachel exits the tent, a creature comes crawling towards her. It is legless, so she uses her pistol to shoot it in the head. Quinn turns to glance over her shoulder to see Rachel standing there, a dead creature at her feet. Rachel looks up and gives Quinn a nod, Quinn nods back and then they both go back to searching out the creatures in the dark, killing them before they get too close to camp.

This goes on until dawn, then everyone who are able-bodied have to help move the bodies far away from camp to be burned.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: There aren't any creatures in this chapter, but they'll be back soon ;) Enjoy!

* * *

Quinn wakes up to the rumbling of Rachel's stomach next to her. It has been a week since they ran out of food. Five days since they all shared that fowl that Zack caught. Rachel refused to eat any of it, she said she would feel even worse if she ate any meat after so many years without it.

Zack had proven to be helpful as a hunter, he said that his father took him all of the time. He and Quinn have been going out searching for food in the cold for days to no avail.

This time, Rachel comes along, it is winter and the days have been darker than usual, so they could use her keen sense of hearing for any movements of animals or creatures out in the dense forest.

"Quinn, it has been hours, my feet are killing me. How have you two been doing this?"

"Shh! Quiet Rachel, keep your ears open. We'll head back in a few." Zack tells her.

Rachel frowns, who does he think he is? She hasn't had any food for seven days, and they expect her to be up for hours tromping along in forest with them. She stops at the base of a large tree, there are mushrooms growing there. She reaches down to pick one up, maybe she could eat those.

"Rachel no! Do not even touch those! We don't know what's poisonous out here." Quinn tells her.

"Oh, right. I guess my brain isn't working too well."

Quinn whistles for Zack to come over to them. "Hey, it looks like we're not having any luck out here today. Why don't we start to head back before sundown?"

"Okay, but I was thinking, since we've walked out this far, why not go back to the crash site? Maybe there's some food still left that we missed."

"Great idea, Zack. Let's go."

They know what they are doing is dangerous, so they make a pact not to tell anyone about this unless they find something out here. Rachel keeps a look out as Quinn and Zack rummage through the overgrowth and garbage to see if they can find anything salvageable.

Quinn feels around the trunk after the ground appears to be fruitless, but then she sees something. A protein bar! She checks to make sure Zack isn't looking and she pockets it.

"Find anything?" Zack asks approaching her.

"Nah, it's completely empty aside for the pinecones and needles." Quinn doesn't feel bad about lying, it's only one bar, there is no way they could all share it.

"Man, well I found a poncho and one of my hats, it's dry-rotted now, so,"

"Well, I guess we should get back to camp then. It's getting late."

x

They make it to camp just as the sky turns black. Quinn goes straight into the tent to lie down, as does Zack. Rachel sees a pot of pine needle tea steeping aside the fire, so she goes over to get some before she goes to bed. They've been drinking it to try to curb their hunger for a few days, it has proven to be very helpful with that.

She turns around when she hears someone chuckling, and it is coming from her Dad's tent. She goes into his tent to find him with Mr. Johnson, they are only playing cards, but Rachel isn't blind. She has noticed him making moon-eyes at her father for a little while now and she doesn't like it.

"Hey, Dad. We made it back." Rachel goes over to her Dad and sits on his lap, snuggling into his chest.

"Hey, baby girl, no luck?"

"No, and even if we had, I wouldn't be eating any of it."

"Rachel,"

"I should probably go. I need to get ready to keep watch while everyone gets some rest. Goodnight Leroy, Rachel." Mr. Johnson gets up and leaves the tent.

"Goodnight John." Leroy looks down at his daughter in his arms, "not that I'm complaining, but what are all these snuggles for?"

"Since when can't I hug my Daddy?"

"Since you've only been snuggling with Quinn this whole time."

"Well, I want to snuggle with you right now."

"Okay, I am not opposed to _any_ hugs from my baby girl."

They sit there for a few minutes before Rachel yawns, she says goodnight to her dad before going to her tent for the night.

"Where were you?" Quinn whispers.

"My Dad's." Rachel lies down inside the sleeping bag next to Quinn before asking, "Hey, do you know what Mr. Johnson's first name is?"

"Yeah, it's John."

"John Johnson?" Rachel frowns.

"Uh huh, that's why I sometimes call him Mr. John. Why did you ask that?"

"Curiosity, I guess. He's just been spending a lot of time with my Dad, and I don't know how I feel about it."

Quinn props herself up on her elbow, "Rachel, you can't hold it against either one of them for wanting a little companionship out here. It's only normal, I mean, look at us. We've lost so much, all of us, so I don't see any harm in them being friends."

"You're right, but I still don't like it."

Rachel has accepted that her Daddy Hiram is gone and she gets that her Daddy Leroy should be able to move on, but it's just too soon.

"It'll be okay, there are worse things to worry about, like not having anything to eat. Oh, that reminds me, here, take half of this."

Rachel looks down at the half of a protein bar in Quinn's hand.

"Quinn, where did you-"

"Shh, I found it earlier at the crash site. Eat up,"

Rachel takes the half from Quinn's palm before leaning forward and giving her a tender kiss. "Thank you, you're amazing baby."

"Hey, I'm only doing what I'm supposed to do."

"Aren't you going to eat your half?" Rachel asks around a mouthful of the bar.

Quinn wraps it up and pockets it, "Later."

x

A couple of days later, Rachel wakes up to an empty tent. She sits up and she feels disoriented, it's been two days since that half protein bar that Quinn gave her.

"Quinn," she calls quietly.

"Right here," Quinn says from outside the tent. She appears with a cup of hot pine needle tea and she hands it over to Rachel.

"Thanks," Rachel gives her a once over as she sips the tea, "You're wearing army pants."

"Yeah, I borrowed them from Zack. We're going hunting in a little while, and all of mine were dirty."

Rachel smirks at her girlfriend, "You look…sexy, like a hot military woman or something."

"Really?" Quinn crawls towards her

"Uh-huh, and I like the way your arms look in that top."

"Mmm, well I like the way you look all the time."

They connect lips, slowly and with purpose. Rachel lies back, and Quinn straddles her hips. They kiss for a few minutes before Rachel pushes Quinn's face back.

"Hey, let's get out of here. I want you, just…not here."

"There's a little nook by a stream that we walked by the other day, I remember where it is."

"Okay, hand me my boots."

They only see Zack over by the fire, which means everyone else are still asleep. They tread softly as they sneak away, making their way into the forest despite the morning chill.

Rachel rests against a tree as Quinn kisses down her neck. She exhales and her breath is a cloud, yet the searing lips against her skin keep her warm. She runs her fingers through Quinn's darkening locks, "I can't wait to see what you look like as a full brunette, I have a better picture now, but, uh." She loses her train of thought as Quinn sucks at a particularly sensitive spot beneath her ear.

They paw at each other, through many layers, but the effects are still strong given that it has been a while since their last sexual encounter. Their kissing turns more fervent and Rachel reaches down to cup Quinn over her pants.

"Shit," Quinn hisses, before going back in and sucking on those sweet lips again. She begins rocking herself into Rachel's hand, savoring the delicious friction caused by all of the clothing. Any other time, this wouldn't be enough, but she's up for having Rachel in any way possible right about now.

Rachel drags her lips up the side of Quinn's neck, reaching up ghosting over the shell of her ear, "I need you," she says.

It's the quietest whisper, but it causes Quinn to quake. She slides her hands down Rachel's sides and pulls back a little to unzip her pants.

Rachel mewls. "We're not getting naked are we? It's freezing."

"No, just better access." Quinn replies huskily before undoing her own pants. They are a little big, so they fall down further than she expected, exposing her goods to the chilly air.

"Mmhmm, I thought we weren't getting naked." Rachel says as she grabs two palms full of Quinn's ass.

Oh!

Quinn moans, Rachel's hands are cold, making the sensation more invigorating. She shoves her hand down into Rachel's panties, slipping through warm wetness until her fingertips find her clit.

Rachel's head falls back into the tree as she shivers and tries to catch her breath. Quinn's cool hand works smoothly between her legs and she has to swallow a loud moan every time she makes contact with her most sensitive area.

"God Quinn," She whines.

"Touch me." Quinn begs. She needs release now more than ever. Watching Rachel come apart with just her hand is amazing and she wants to be there along with her.

Rachel rubs circles over Quinn's clit with her fingertips, and Quinn has to bite into her shoulder to muffle her cries. She continues sliding her fingers along and slipping two of them inside causing Quinn's hips to jerk as she releases a loud groan. She pumps in and out, as Quinn tries to provide her with the same pleasure.

"Um, I can't…reach." Quinn grumbles out in frustration.

"It's okay, I'm almost there." Rachel breathes out.

They continue their current motions, both of them trying to keep quiet all the way up until they reach their climax. Then, their only hope is to try to muffle the sound as best as possible.

Crunch!

"What was that?" Rachel asks out of breath.

"What was what?" Quinn can barely hold herself upright, let alone hear anything around them.

"No, Quinn, I definitely heard something just now."

"We haven't seen any creatures in days. It was probably just Zack, perving on us."

"Oh God, I sure hope not."

They fix their clothing and wash up in the stream before hurrying back to camp. When they get there, everyone is still asleep and Zack is still sitting under his poncho shelter just like before they left.

Rachel kicks off her boots before lying back down in the sleeping bag.

"Hey," Quinn whispers from where she is kneeling beside Rachel.

"What? You're not getting in?"

"No, Zack and I are still going out there today." Quinn pulls out that half of protein bar and hands it over to Rachel.

"Quinn, this means you haven't eaten in about a week."

"I had some of those plants that Mr. John found out were safe yesterday."

"You know that's not enough, it's not enough for any of us."

"Don't you think I know that? Just…eat it, I'm going hunting and I already know that you're not going to eat any of what we come back with anyway."

Rachel stops protesting, she knows that Quinn is right. She wouldn't eat any of that bird that they had caught before, so she unwraps the protein bar and begins nibbling at it. She watches as Quinn gets up, leaving the tent after giving her leg a squeeze.

x

"Are we still going out today Zack?"

Zack's head snaps up and then he snatches away as he lays eyes on her. "Y-yeah."

Quinn frowns, she wonders what his problem is. She really hopes she wasn't right about him watching them. "Well, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure."

They take off, rifles locked and loaded, out to the middle of the forest. They tread as lightly as possible, using hand signals to communicate with each other.

After about an hour, they find themselves kneeling behind a tree together. Quinn has sensed the tension from Zack ever since she asked him about going out again, he still hasn't let up.

"What is your problem, man?" Quinn whispers.

"What? I don't have a problem." He lifts his gun to look through the scope.

Quinn breathes in through her nose, he won't even look at her.

"Was it worth it? Risking your lives like that."

Great, she was right. "You were watching us." She says flatly.

"No, not exactly. I had no idea where you were going off to, so I followed to check. I saw a little and then I ran back to camp."

Quinn scoffs and then punches him in the arm.

"Hey! I was mortified okay. You and Rachel are like little sisters to me now, I'd never do something like that on purpose."

"Well, make sure it never-"

Shh!

"Look," He whispers.

It is a small deer, across the clearing, chewing on a bush. Zack raises his weapon as does Quinn. She watches through her scope as Zack cocks his rifle and fires a round. The deer hops up, wobbling before falling over.

They both get up and rush over to it, still trying to crawl away. Quinn looks down into the animal's shiny eye, she pulls out her pistol and fires once into the head. It finally stops moving and Zack tells her that they need to bleed it out here.

They get back to camp with their catch, dropping it next to the fire. Quinn goes into her tent to wake Rachel.

"Hey, baby, we caught something."

"What?" Rachel sits upright. She hopes she doesn't have to look at it.

"I'm sorry, but we need food. Do you think you'll try some this time?"

"Absolutely not. I'll starve before I put meat into my body again."

"But baby you are starving." Quinn doesn't want to argue with her over her morals, but it is becoming ridiculous at this point.

"Regardless, I haven't eaten meat in years. I could get sick and die from just eating it, so…"

"Alright, just, come on and help me gather some wood for the fire."

Zack stays behind and skins the deer with the help of Mr. Johnson. Leroy stays armed as he walks with Rachel and Quinn to gather wood.

Rachel wipes the sweat from her brow, that protein bar did nothing but agitate her hunger. She feels weak in her legs as she walks, but decides not to say anything. It would be better just to gather the wood as quickly as she can in order to get back to camp to sleep.

"Hey, you're sweating a lot, it's too cold for that Rachel." Quinn checks her over worriedly.

"It's not like I can help it," Rachel huffs.

"Alright girls, I think we have enough, let's get back. Rachel, I want you to change immediately when you get back. Quinn's right, you can get hypothermia out here."

x

Rachel changes in the tent with Quinn's help, the men have gotten the deer cut up and put some stew on the fire already. Zack found a pouch of curing salt in one of the footlockers and reserved a lot of the meat for jerky.

"Hey guys," Ann says, she rarely leaves Charles' side in order to monitor his progress. Having a compound fracture in this environment has definitely taken a huge blow to his health.

The last time they checked, his leg was still very red and swollen and not healing properly. They have plenty of first-aid supplies, but that can only do so much. He still needs help going to the bathroom, and Ann has been reluctant to let anyone else help with him. So, there has been sort of a rift between Ann and Charles and the rest of them.

Rachel looks up at her friend, she looks so tired, she gives her a smile as she approaches. "Hi, Ann. How's Charles?"

"He's…he needs to see a doctor. I know that's impossible, but he's still holding on. What smells so good?"

"They caught a deer, made stew with it." Rachel cannot believe she likes the way it smells.

"Oh great! Charles really needs food and I'm so hungry."

"There's plenty," Quinn pipes in, she hands Ann two bowls.

"Do you need me to go get Charles up?" Zack asks Ann.

"Oh no," she grabs a bowl of stew. "I'll take it to him." She hops up and goes into her tent.

Zack shrugs at Quinn, she shakes her head at him. She has no idea why Ann is acting that way.

Quinn gets her own bowl of stew, she starts by drinking the broth first, before eating any meat. Rachel was right about getting sick from eating meat after a long time. She tries offering Rachel some broth, but she still refuses.

"Hey! Rachel, I want you to at least drink some of the broth. Think of it as vegetable stock or something, you have to try honey." Leroy tells her.

Rachel reluctantly takes Quinn's bowl and tries to take a sip, the smell is unappealing and she pushes through it. Soon after swallowing some down, it comes right back up and she vomits the entire contents of her stomach.

Leroy runs a hand through his hair in frustration, he rubs at Rachel's back and tells her to go lie down in the tent.

"I don't know what to do anymore Mr. Berry."

He sighs, "Me neither, I'll put on some more pine needle tea."

Quinn goes into the tent to check on her, she smooths some of her hair out of her face, giving her forehead a kiss.

"I'm going to go back to the crash site to search for more bars tomorrow." Quinn doesn't get a response, so she gets inside the sleeping bag to join her. Sleepiness comes over her as soon as she snuggles up behind Rachel.

x

Total darkness surrounds her, she can't see anything. She calls out for Rachel and she hears her call her name, but she's somewhere in the distance. She takes off running, calling for Rachel and trying to find her in the darkness. A bright light shines and Rachel's there in front of it. She smiles as she runs towards the light. Rachel screams, as she's pulled from behind. The light swallows her up, and Quinn drops to her knees sobbing.

She sits up straight huffing and puffing, she looks down and realizes it was only a dream. Her heart is still beating out of her chest. She shakes Rachel to wake her up, and she doesn't respond. Something's wrong.

"Shit! Rachel! Wake up!" She turns her over and listens to her chest, she isn't breathing.

Quinn yells for help and Leroy rushes into the tent. She can barely see through her tears as he gives Rachel mouth to mouth. She feels sick and crawls out of the tent on her hands and knees. She throws up right in front of Zack's feet, he reaches out a hand to help her up. She knows he is asking her what's going on, but she keeps repeating that 'She's gone!' over and over at him.

He shakes her to try to help her get a hold of herself. "Quinn! Quinn! Come on, go back in there!"

She sucks in a deep breath and goes back in, Leroy is shakily performing chest compressions. She knows CPR, so she tells him to move out of the way. She takes over the compressions, stopping every five pumps to give Rachel a breath.

Suddenly, Rachel's eyes pop open and she gasps for air. She starts coughing and clear fluid comes from her mouth so Quinn turns her on her side.

Quinn breaks down on top of her, "God, I thought you were gone, I thought you were gone." She cries.

They have Rachel wrapped up in a blanket next to the fire as she sips at some pine needle tea.

She looks down at Quinn, who's sitting at her feet watching her like she's going to explode any moment.

"Quinn, I-I'm fine. You can stop looking at me like that."

"No, you're not." Quinn tears up again, just thinking about what almost happened. How are they going to get out of here?


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I had the flu, but I'm sort of getting better. Anyway, there will be two more chapters after this.

* * *

"Guys!" Zack calls out from outside the barrier.

Rachel and Quinn hear him and go over to see what's wrong.

"What is it?" Quinn asks as she bends down to go under the rope.

"I buried those deer bones over here, look." He gestures to a hole in the ground.

"There must be creatures nearby." He says.

"But why didn't they come to the camp? Surely they would have smelled us if they were this close." Quinn wonders.

"I don't know, just keep your gun on you from now on."

"So, you don't think it was just an animal?" Rachel asks.

"Can't be too sure, best to stay alert just in case." Zack tells them.

They go back behind the perimeter and get out their respective weapons. Quinn has her shotgun, Rachel her rifle and Zack gets his and stands guard looking through his scope periodically.

"Dad, there could be creatures nearby." Rachel tells her father as she kneels by the opening of his tent.

He exits his tent with his shotgun in hand and Mr. Johnson comes out right behind him. Rachel does a double take, but there is no time for her to dwell on that when they could be in danger. They each take post at different corners of the barrier, listening and watching for any signs of creatures.

After a while, nothing happens and they decide to take a break and fix something to eat. Quinn chops up some of the venison and puts it in a pot with some powdered soup. When it comes to a boil, she ladles some out and serves Rachel a bowl first. She eyes her before continuing to serve everyone else.

"Look, I'm sorry okay, you don't have to watch over me Quinn. I know that I scared everybody yesterday, especially you and my dad. But I told you I couldn't eat the meat, but now I guess I have no choice."

"Right, you don't." Quinn gruffs.

Rachel stares down at the contents of her bowl. "I'll try to get some of this down, but I can't make any promises."

"You promised you would never leave me out here, just like I promised you. Now eat your soup!" Quinn is in no mood to argue with her anymore. She will force it down her throat if she has to.

The guilt washes over Rachel as she watches Quinn angrily eating a bowl of her own soup. It sends a jolt of determination to her brain, she gains the willpower to scoop up some meat and shovel it into her mouth. As she chews, she has to admit, it isn't as bad as yesterday's. Maybe it's because Quinn made it today. In the end, her bowl is empty and she sits by the fire with Quinn.

Quinn drapes an arm over her shoulders. "I'm proud of you, I know it took a lot for you to get it all down."

"It was actually quite edible. I think if you cook it every time, I could maybe eat the meat every day."

"Well, just take it a little at a time. You might not be too happy in a few hours, but at least you have some food in your stomach."

Rachel knows that she will probably have a terrible stomachache overnight. "Don't remind me." She says.

"Here, Mr. Johnson found some juniper berries, and we mixed them with pine needles, it'll help you digest." She pours and hands Rachel a thermos of the tea.

Ann finally emerges from her tent to carry a bowl of soup back to her tent without a word to anyone.

"Okay, so what is up with your friend Rachel? She's been acting really overprotective with Charles. She wouldn't let Zack help him come out of the tent yesterday and now this. He needs to get up and move around otherwise he'll get worse."

"I have no idea what's going on, she said that he was doing okay yesterday. Maybe we should go check on them." Rachel turns to look at her friend's tent.

"Later, tomorrow there will be more light, so that we can see his wound better." Zack says with a mouthful of meat.

"Okay." She says.

Rachel hands Quinn her thermos and they take turns sipping at the tea as they watch the sun go down.

x

"Alright, so…who's gonna go in there first?" Zack asks as he sits with Rachel and Quinn down by the creek.

"I'll go, she's my friend. She'll probably listen to me." Rachel says. She gets up and walks over to Ann's tent.

Quinn and Zack follow close behind her, Quinn with first aid and Zack with his gun. They have no idea what Ann is hiding, but Zack brought up the fact that Charles could have turned into a creature without being bit.

"Ann," Rachel calls.

"Rachel?"

"Yes, it's me. Can I come in? I want to talk to you."

"Um, I'll be out in a second."

Quinn frowns and looks at Zack, she hand signals for them to go in on the count of three.

They unzip the tent and Rachel goes in first. "Ann, it's okay,"

"What the hell?"

"They're just going to check on Charles. It'll be fine."

"No! Stop it! Don't touch him!"

Quinn and Zack both look down at Charles, he looks to be asleep. The rise and fall of his chest tells them that he is still alive. Quinn lifts up his blanket to get a look at his leg. It is swollen twice its size and bright red, she removes the old gauze and the wound is oozing with pus. She winces as she washes it clean with diluted alcohol before re-bandaging it.

"Oh man, looks like it's gotten worse." Zack says.

"The fact that he didn't respond to the pain of changing his bandage means he's not just sleeping." Quinn collects the trash and cleans up the area before covering him back up.

Ann sobs as Rachel holds her back, she tries to tell her it will be okay, but she isn't sure it will be.

"You could have told us, Ann." Quinn says as she shakes her head at her.

"Why? So you could just shoot him to put him out of his misery?"

Quinn scoffs and leaves the tent.

"Ann, Quinn would never do something like that. He wasn't bitten, and he's alive, but he won't be for long if he doesn't get help soon." Rachel goes out of the tent to search for Quinn. She finds her sitting back down by the creek.

Quinn rips apart another leaf before tossing it into the water. "I am not a killer."

"I know that Quinn. Ann is obviously under stress, all she knows is what she's seen so far."

"But she thought that I would shoot him just because he's in a coma. I would never do something like that."

"And I told her that."

Quinn looks up at Rachel then. "You did?"

"Yeah," Rachel gives her a half smile. She needs Quinn to know that she will always have her back.

"Thanks, too bad she'll never believe it. What, does she think that I enjoy this? I would love for things to go back to normal, to not have to shoot things to survive. But we're stuck out here and her boyfriend is not going to survive if we don't get out of here." Quinn bursts out in tears and they shock Rachel with how suddenly they came about.

She holds Quinn, guiding her to lay her head in her lap as she rubs at her back.

"Shh, baby don't cry." Rachel tries to calm her down while holding back tears of her own. Seeing Quinn fall apart so easily is a clear sign that things are not looking too good for them out here.

x

Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap!

Rachel turns and looks up, birds are flying out of the trees from all over. She squints up at them, wondering why they are all suddenly leaving.

"Oh shit! Everybody! Code Red!" Zack screams before firing shot after shot.

Quinn hops up and un-holsters her pistol. She curses herself for leaving behind her shotgun.

Rachel follows her as they run back up to camp, only to find several creatures nearing the perimeter. She can hear the loud gunshots and sees her dad and Mr. Johnson standing on one side picking off creatures one by one.

"Rachel!" Quinn yells before tossing Rachel her rifle.

She catches it and cocks it, raising it up and firing at the nearest creature coming their way.

Blast after blast, everyone except for Ann and Charles are outside shooting at the creatures, but there looks to be too many approaching too quickly. They are coming from all sides and every time one goes down, there's another in its place.

"Help!" Ann screams as creatures rip through the top of her tent. A splatter of blood washes down the inside wall of the tent. They must have gotten to Charles.

Rachel shoots a few of them, but she cannot tell if they got to Ann or not. She moves to go check, but Quinn stops her with her arm.

"No," Quinn says simply. There is no time to save anyone after they've obviously been bitten. It's best to just leave them and focus on not having the same happen to themselves.

"Guys! We have to run! There's way too many dude." Zack is out of breath as he rushes over towards Rachel and Quinn.

Leroy and Mr. Johnson are being pursued by a multitude of creatures in the opposite direction. Rachel calls out for her father when she can barely see him. He calls for her, but she can hear his voice fading. Quinn grabs her by the hand and yanks her away as they take off running.

"Rachel, we have to go! Y-your dad has a weapon, so does Mr. John. Come on!"

Zack starts screaming at the creatures to force them his way in order to allow them an escape. During their quickened pace, Quinn loses grip on Rachel's hand. She looks back to make sure Rachel is still following and once she sees that she is, she continues on.

Quinn tries to think on her feet about where to go. She just has to get them somewhere safe until the creatures pass through. The number one spot she can think of is the crash site. She turns around to tell Rachel where she thinks they should go, but she isn't there anymore.

"Shit. Rachel!" She calls out lowly as she quickly retraces her steps.

Her heart stops when she sees Rachel on the ground wrestling with a creature on top of her. She runs as fast as she can as she unsheathes her machete. With one swipe, she lops off the head of the creature after kicking it to the side. They have to be careful using firearms now that they could easily attract dozens of creatures with the smallest sound. She knows that's probably why Rachel didn't scream for help even though she wishes she had.

"Quinn, thank God you came back. I knew you didn't see me, but I couldn't scream. There are _so_ many. Where the hell did they come from?"

"I don't know, but we need to get to the crash site and hide there for a while."

Rachel nods as they take off again, as she runs she can feel something pinching her forearm. She rolls up her sleeve to try to get a look and she almost faints, she's been bitten. She can't say anything to Quinn, she doesn't want to worry her about it just yet. The bite isn't fatal, so she'll probably just get sick before the change happens. At least she hopes so.

x

"Hey, try to keep up with me, we need to stick together." Quinn says as she looks back to check on Rachel.

"I'm trying, it seems like we've been running in a circle."

"That's because we have, the crash site is in the opposite direction than we've been running."

Rachel takes in a labored breath, _now_ she tells her. She can feel beads of sweat raining down her face as her vision continues to blur, she guesses all of this activity is accelerating the effects of the bite.

"I see it." Quinn smiles back at Rachel before stopping to wait for her to catch up.

"Thank God." Rachel huffs. She leans over as she pants to get her breathing under control.

They finally make it to the crashed jeep and Quinn begins to clear out some of the broken glass in the back row so that they can lie down and hide back there.

"We'll stay here for the night, we just have to stay quiet and keep a look out for any creatures. I'll just have to get to them before they see us and then others won't know we're here."

"Okay," Rachel holds her arm against herself as she lies down. She wants to cry but she doesn't want Quinn to touch her right now.

"Hey," Quinn whispers as she kneels down in front of Rachel. "I think we could try to find our way up to the highway tomorrow. It may be steep, but we'll have to climb-"

"Quinn,"

"Wh-" Quinn puts a hand to Rachel's sweaty forehead. "God Rachel, you're burning up. You're sweating a lot too, are you still sick from the meat?"

Rachel swallows, she's getting worse so she decides to tell Quinn now, that way she can take measures whenever she goes. "Quinn, I…I've been bit."

All of the air leaves her lungs in one breath, Quinn can feel her herself break out in a cold sweat. "What? Where?" She reaches out to search at Rachel's body, hoping that she's just mistaken.

"My arm." She pulls back her sleeve to show Quinn her wound.

She gasps when she lays eyes on it, already screaming red and swollen. "No, _no_, y-you can't. You said Rachel," Quinn drapes herself over Rachel, cradling her and rocking back and forth as she cries.

"I know. I'm sorry baby, it's my own fault. I shouldn't have turned back when I heard my dad yelling, but he's my _daddy_. You two are all I have left."

Rachel closes her eyes as the hot tears burn tracks down her cheeks. She angles her head away from Quinn so that she doesn't get any on her just in case her tears are infected.

"Fuck." Quinn lifts up and takes in a deep breath. "No, you know what? We're going to get you out of here and to a hospital. We don't know what happens if someone gets bitten without dying, maybe you can be saved."

Rachel smiles despite the searing pain, Quinn is still optimistic, which means she should stay that way too.

"I love you," She says weakly and the look on Quinn's face is so heartbreaking that she never wants to see it again. She squeezes her eyes shut as Quinn starts to cry all over again.

"I love you too baby. I love you more than anything, more than this world. If you go, I'm going right behind you. I'll let you bite me."

Rachel's eyes snap open. "No you will not Quinn, what did you tell me right after the crash? You said that you wanted me to go on without you. You can't just turn around and say something like that to me now. You have to kill me if I turn."

"No!"

"Shh, keep your voice down. Please, I don't want to stay one of those things. You have to Quinn. Promise me?"

Quinn turns and sits on the floor against the back seat where Rachel lies. She cannot do this, she's had to shoot her own mother after she turned and that still haunts her to this day. Even when Finn was bitten, she couldn't even do the job, he ended up shooting himself. She refuses to do that to Rachel.

"I-I can't."

"Please?"

"No, I can't do it Rachel. You can't make me."

Rachel lays a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Quinn, look at me."

The way Quinn stares at her lets her know that she looks as bad as she feels. This feels like she has the flu, but ten times as strong.

"I look terrible don't I?"

"What? No, you're just sick."

"I'm more than just sick, you know that. Now why don't you just listen to me while I'm still coherent. I want you to do whatever you have to do after I turn, I mean, it'd be dangerous to shoot a gun…"

Quinn's eyes go wide. "Oh no, you have got to be kidding. I could never…Rachel, why don't you try to fight it?"

"It's happening so fast and I'm just thinking logically. If a person is bitten on an extremity, they probably get really sick and then die quickly from illness before turning. I may have a few terrible days of this, or I may not make it through the night."

"God," Quinn breathes out, she has to find a way out of here for them. She'll carry Rachel up that hillside if she has to tomorrow.

Rachel's entire body is burning up, she removes her shirt and balls it up under her head. She's sweating profusely and she can feel herself fading away. She closes her eyes, taking short breaths to try to ease some of the pain. Hopefully she's only going to sleep.

Quinn turns around when she hears Rachel snoring. She gently slips Rachel's hair from her ponytail and runs a shaky hand through it. She tries to keep her breathing under control as she makes soft strokes, she doesn't want to wake Rachel. She uses the flashlight to illuminate Rachel's face, she looks so sick. How is this happening? Why, after all this time?

She holds onto Rachel's wrist to keep track of her pulse. It's been beating so rapidly, Quinn fears she may have a heart attack. She stretches out on the floor beneath the backseat where Rachel lies. Sleep overcomes her shortly after.

Quinn opens her eyes to complete darkness, she feels as if she's floating. She blinks repeatedly to try to see something, but it's no use, there is no light here, wherever she is.

Out of nowhere, she feels hands on her body, they're warm and soft. She knows those hands very well, the way they caress her back, tracing over her fading scars and rubbing. It's Rachel. She turns around and she feels her there, she can actually feel her. She leans forward to kiss her, but she gets a slap to the face instead.

Her eyes pop open at the impact of the hit. She rubs at her cheek as she looks around, she was dreaming again. There is only light from the moon and she looks up at Rachel. She's convulsing, Rachel's hand is probably what she felt. She tries to hold Rachel still to keep her from hurting herself.

"Rachel, Rachel wake up. Please, stay with me. I don't want to do this, come on baby. I know you can fight it off for a while longer."

As if Quinn's words were magic, she stopped moving completely. This worries Quinn, so she holds the flashlight up to Rachel's face.

Suddenly, Rachel's eyes snap open and the color of them causes Quinn to jump back out of shock.

"Oh no."


End file.
